A Case of Aripiprazole-induced Mania

Introduction

Aripiprazole is a novel atypical neuroleptic. It acts as a partial agonist at the dopamine D₂ receptor, as a partial agonist at the 5-HT_1A receptor, and as an antagonist at the 5-HT_2A receptor. Clinical trials have established its clinical efficacy and favorable tolerability profile [5] [16]. Nevertheless, infrequent undesirable adverse events are often encountered during wide-scale everyday clinical use. Induction of mania, described for almost all second-generation neuroleptics [2] [3] [11] [15] [17], may be one of the rare adverse events of aripiprazole therapy.

We present a case of an induction of mania after initiation of aripiprazole treatment in a male patient with chronic schizophrenia who had never presented affective symptoms and had been without continuous medication for several years.

References

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