What Does a Five-Day Antipsychotic Trial Show About Prolactin?
Prolactin measured after several doses can show an early response. Whether that response persists calls for follow-up over a longer period.
How the crossover trial worked
Koller and colleagues studied 24 healthy volunteers who received aripiprazole and olanzapine in randomized order. The two short treatment periods were separated by a 28-day washout. The authors observed hyperprolactinemia during olanzapine treatment and did not report the same finding during aripiprazole treatment.
What the short observation can support
Having each person receive both treatments helps limit differences between individuals. The study still used specific doses, healthy volunteers and a short observation window. It does not show how often a prolactin elevation persists in people taking either medication long term. When comparing a patient’s laboratory results with this study, check the medication start date, dose history, baseline value and timing of the blood draw.
Source
Koller et al., randomized crossover study of aripiprazole and olanzapine (full text) · DOI
