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Objective: Access to literature on clozapine in Russian language remains strikingly limited. We aimed to identify and translate clinical evidence on clozapine-based treatment outcomes., Methods: We performed a systematic review in PubMed, Embase and scientific indexes from former USSR states searching for articles published in Russian from the database inception till January 2023 and summarized the data in a scoping review (PROSPERO Reg. Number CRD42023386737)., Results: A total of 60 papers were included comprising eight main topic categories: 1) clozapine-related intoxications (n = 20), 2) effectiveness/efficacy and safety of clozapine treatment (n = 14), 3) adverse drug-induced reactions (ADRs) related to clozapine treatment (n = 9), 4) therapeutic drug monitoring for clozapine (n = 5), 5) combination of clozapine and non-pharmacological treatments (n = 4), 6) pharmacoepidemiology of clozapine (n = 3), 7) effects of clozapine on the brain electrical activity (n = 3), and 8) novel clozapine formulations (n = 2). Among clozapine-related intoxications there were reports of criminal poisoning, which was associated with low lethality. Worse outcomes were accompanied by systemic reactions to intoxications. Clinical benefits of hemoadsorption were reported in the management of clozapine-related intoxications. Only half of studies reporting clozapine effectiveness used standardized scales to assess outcomes. Clozapine superiority in treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) was replicated in one trial. No reports of clozapine-related agranulocytosis were identified. Clozapine ranked among most prescribed antipsychotics for TRS and non-TRS., Conclusions: As clinical research in former USSR states is advancing to adopt western clinical research standards, comparability and extrapolation of findings is expected to increase, with transfer of older findings to clinical practice being particularly challenging., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Georgios Schoretsanitis has served as a consultant for HLS Therapeutics and Thermo Fisher and has received speaker's fees from HLS Therapeutics. All other authors report no conflicts of interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: As access to an essential part of clozapine research from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) states is very limited, quality aspects have not gained attention so far, and harmonization with modern research standards remains unclear., Methods: We performed a systematic search in PubMed, Embase and scientific indexes from former USSR states for articles published in Russian language till January 2023 (PROSPERO Reg. Number CRD42023386737) and assessed their quality using the modified Strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE)-Checklist. We compared quality aspects for papers published before and after 2000., Results: A total of 60 papers were considered. Conflicts of interests and funding sources were reported in 5 and 3 (8 % and 5 %) studies respectively; ethical approval was warranted in two studies (3 %). Statistical analysis was performed in 57 (95 %) studies, but statistical methods were described in 21 (35 %) studies. When comparing studies before and after 2000, there was a trend towards improvement for several aspects, with the only significant differences being the objectives' specification (43 vs 83 %, p < 0.003) and the reporting of statistical methodology (0.0 vs 46 %, p < 0.001), which were more frequently available in papers after 2000., Conclusions: Clozapine papers in Russian language suffered from severe methodological drawbacks limiting generalizability. Changes regarding standardization, transparency, ethics, and good scientific practice are urgently required. Using reporting checklists and predefining protocols are the first steps towards quality upgrade and accelerate the integration of science from the former USSR states into the world scientific system., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Dr. Kuzo has received educational grants from Lundbeck. Dr. Seifritz has received educational grants, consulting fees and lecture honoraria from Janssen Cilag, Lundbeck, Angelini, Otsuka, Servier, Ricordati, Vifor, Sunovion, Schwabe and Mepha. Dr. Schoretsanitis has served as a consultant for Dexcel Pharma, HLS Therapeutics, and Thermo Fisher and has received speaker's fees from HLS Therapeutics. All other authors report no conflicts of interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)