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Camilla Gesi,1 Silvia Paletta,2 Maria Carlotta Palazzo,1 Bernardo Dell’Osso,1,3 Claudio Mencacci,1 Giancarlo Cerveri2 1Department of Mental Health and Addiction, ASST FBF Sacco, Milan, Italy; 2Department of Mental Health and Addiction, ASST Lodi, Lodi, Italy; 3School of Medicine University of Milan, Milan, ItalyCorrespondence: Silvia Paletta Email silvia.paletta@asst-Lodi.itAbstract: Cariprazine is an antipsychotic medication which received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of schizophrenia in September 2015. Cariprazine is a dopamine D3 and D2 receptor partial agonist, with a preference for the D3 receptor. Furthermore, although to a more limited extent, cariprazine also exhibits partial agonism at the level of 5-HT1A receptors, thus exerting an antidepressant effect in addition to the antipsychotic effect. The most commonly encountered adverse events are extrapyramidal symptoms and akathisia. Short-term weight gain appears infrequently. Cariprazine is not associated with any clinically meaningful alterations in metabolic variables, prolactin, or ECG QT interval. Cariprazine is also approved for the acute treatment of manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder. Clinical trials of cariprazine are ongoing in patients with acute bipolar I depression and as adjunctive treatment to antidepressant therapy in patients with major depressive disorder. In this article, we present some significant clinical cases regarding the use of cariprazine, with the hope that our experience can provide insight or suggestions to be used in clinical practice.Keywords: cariprazine, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, effectiveness, tolerability

Purpose/background: The aim of the study was a preliminary evaluation of the maintenance of clinical efficacy and tolerability of paliperidone palmitate in patients with schizophrenia during the transition phase from 1-monthly paliperidone palmitate formulation (PP1M) to PP3M, with the evaluation of plasma levels of the drug., Methods/procedures: A prospective observational study was conducted for 13 months involving 22 outpatients, aged 18 to 66 years and clinically stabilized. Patients were affected by schizophrenia according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, criteria. For each patient, clinical assessment, safety and tolerability, and drug plasma level determination were performed. Clinical efficacy was assessed by Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Positive and Negative Symptom Scale, and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. During the first 4 months of the study, once-monthly paliperidone palmitate was administered, and then during the following 9 months, the 3-monthly formulation was administered., Findings/results: The time course of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale total scores showed a statistically significant (P = 0.006) improvement from T0 to T8; Positive and Negative Symptom Scale scores showed a similar time course, with a statistically significant (P = 0.0016) reduction of the mean total score; Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression mean scores showed a statistically significant (P = 0.003) reduction with substantial maintenance of clinical stabilization of the patients. Only 1 patient dropped out after the first PP3M injection., Implications/conclusions: Our preliminary data currently confirm the maintenance of clinical stability shifting from PP1M to PP3M., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)