Metabolic syndrome is a very serious health issue, not only from internal medicine's point of view. Patients suffering from overweight, arterial hypertension, lipids and carbohydrates metabolism disorders are also in the circle of interest of other areas of medicine, including psychiatry. Currently, one of key problems of pharmacotherapy is a comorbidity of metabolic syndrome and mental disorder. Depression is more common than schizophrenia. Despite the fact that in everyday clinical practice there are more patients with depression than schizophrenia, there is a bigger interest among scientists for metabolic syndrome after antipsychotic drugs than as an effect of use of antidepressant agents.
Aim: The aim of an analysis was to review literature committed to influence of depression pharmacotherapy on development of metabolic syndrome. 169 results were provided, including 18 original publications. Final analysis consists of 9 that investigate correlation between antidepressive medicines use and metabolic syndrome development (but not its each individual component).
Results: In general, antidepressant pharmacotherapy is associated not only with increased risk of metabolic syndrome occurrence but also their worsening. However, it needs to be emphasized that there is a difference between antidepressants groups - tricyclic antidepressive medicines are the most commonly associated with risk of developing metabolic disorders, but also SNRIs and SSRIs are mentioned as significant contributors. Mechanisms of aforementioned changes are still unclear. However, their influence on histamine and serotonin pathways, which take part in regulation of i.e. food intake, is suggested. The search for mechanisms that are precisely responsible for metabolic changes continues, in hope of finding a way to avoid adverse effects of antidepressant medicines use.
Keywords: antidepressant medicines; metabolic syndrome x.