Abstract
The role of estrogens in schizophrenia has been proposed from the observation of schizophrenia occurring later and with symptom severity being lesser in women. Utility of estrogens in treatment of psychoses, though seen to be useful, comes with inherent risks of neoplasias, given its agonistic action on breast and endometrium. This risk can be overcome with use of selective estrogen receptor modulators, like raloxifene. Raloxifene has been used in schizophrenia, with improvement in symptoms and cognitive functions. We report the use of raloxifene as an adjunctive treatment, with risperidone, in treatment-resistant form of schizophrenia. The patient, a 29-year-old woman, over a 7-month follow-up period, showed significant improvement in socio-occupational functioning, with reduction in symptom severity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Garcia-Segura LM, Azcoitia I, DonCarlos LL (2001) Neuroprotection by estradiol. Prog Neurobiol 63:29–60
Kulkarni J, de Castella A, Fitzgerald PB, Gurvich CT et al (2008) Estrogen in severe mental illness: a potential new treatment approach. Arch Gen Psychiatry 65:955–960
Kulkarni J, Gurvich C, Lee SJ, Gilbert H et al (2010) Piloting the effective therapeutic dose of adjunctive selective estrogen receptor modulator treatment in postmenopausal women with schizophrenia. Psychoneuroendocrinology 35:1142–1147
Riecher-Rossler A (2002) Oestrogen effects in schizophrenia and their potential therapeutic implications—review. Arch Womens Ment Health 5:111–118
Shivakumar V,Venkatasubramanian G (2011) Successful Use of adjuvant raloxifene treatment in clozapine resistant schizophrenia. Indian J Psychiatry, in press
Usall J, Huerta-Ramos E, Iniesta R, Cobo J et al (2011) Raloxifene as an adjunctive treatment for postmenopausal women with schizophrenia: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. J Clin Psychiatry 72:1552–1557
Wong J, Seeman MV, Shapiro H (2003) Case report: raloxifene in postmenopausal women with psychosis: preliminary findings. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 11:697–698
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sharma, E., Raveendranathan, D., Shivakumar, V. et al. Beneficial effects of add-on raloxifene in schizophrenia. Arch Womens Ment Health 15, 147–148 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-012-0259-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-012-0259-1