Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (Jul 2022)
Cariprazine on Psychosis: Beyond Schizophrenia – A Case Series
Abstract
Miguel Bajouco,1– 3 David Mota1,2 1Department of Psychiatry, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; 2Institute of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal; 3Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), University of Coimbra, Coimbra, PortugalCorrespondence: Miguel Bajouco, Department of Psychiatry, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, Tel +351 239 400 454, Email [email protected]: Cariprazine is an atypical antipsychotic that has D2 and D3 partial agonism properties in addition to the usual 5-HT2A receptor antagonist action of second-generation antipsychotics. It has a distinctly higher affinity for D3 receptors, which is 10-fold higher than for D2 receptors. Cariprazine is also a 5-HT1A partial agonist, with a potential antidepressant effect. Cariprazine has been approved for treatment of both positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia and for treatment of bipolar disorder. It could potentially be used in depression as an add-on treatment. There are few data reporting effectiveness of cariprazine in the broader spectrum of psychosis. In this paper, the authors report three cases where cariprazine was used in the treatment of psychotic conditions other than schizophrenia, namely a first episode psychosis, a case of delusional disorder, and a case of a patient with borderline personality disorder and psychotic symptoms. The authors suggest that cariprazine may be effective in the treatment of psychosis in a broader sense and should be considered a first-line treatment option.Keywords: antipsychotic treatment, borderline personality disorder, cariprazine, delusional disorder, first-episode psychosis, psychosis, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, tolerability
