Phases of the menstrual cycle and therapeutic response to neuroleptic therapy in patients with schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: The low estrogen level is associated with the worsening of the psychotic symptoms in females with schizophrenia. We tested the hypothesis that the patients admitted to the hospital in low-estrogen (low-E) phase require lower neuroleptic dosage and shorter length of hospital stay than the patients admitted in the high-estrogen (high-E) phase. METHODS AND RESULTS: 51 female patients with schizophrenia were divided into two groups according to their menstrual cycle phase at admission and according to the type of neuroleptic treatment during their hospitalisation. 53% of them were admitted in the low-E phase. The Student T-test was used for the analysis. The patients of the low-E phase group had lower daily dosage of typical neuroleptics (p < 0.001), higher age (p < 0.05) and shorter length of hospital stay (p < 0.05) than the patients taking atypical neuroleptics. The patients taking typical neuroleptics in the low-E group had lower daily dosage (p < 0.05) and they were older (p < 0.01) than the patients taking typical neuroleptics in the high-E group. The shorter length of hospital stay (p < 0.001) was found in high-E patients with atypical neuroleptics than in low-E patients with atypical neuroleptics. CONCLUSIONS: Several further perspectives of estrogen-studies in schizophrenic women are discussed.