In children who are taking second-generation anti-psychotic medications, genetic variation increases the risk of developing metabolic syndrome, says study.

"It's concerning because these children take medications to treat a chronic disease mental illness and then develop risk factors for a second chronic disease," says Dr. Angela Devlin, study co-author, CFRI scientist and assistant professor in the UBC Department of Pediatrics.
Second-generation anti-psychotics are prescribed to approximately 5500 children and youth in British Columbia for psychotic disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, adjustment disorders and substance abuse. Of these medications, the two most commonly prescribed in B.C. are quetiapine (Seroquel) and risperidone (Risperdal).
For the study, researchers assessed 209 children who were inpatients between April 2008 and June 2011 at the Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Department at BC Children's Hospital, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority. Their average age was 13 years, and 105 of the children were treated with second-generation anti-psychotics while 112 did not use these drugs. DNA analysis showed that eight per cent of children from both groups had a genetic variation called C677T on the MTHFR gene. Children with the MTHFR C677T variant who used these medications were six-times more likely to have metabolic syndrome.
The researchers targeted the MTHFR C677T variant because it is known to be associated with metabolic syndrome in adults who have schizophrenia, and with cardiovascular disease in adults who don't have psychiatric illness.
Dr. Devlin and Dr. Panagiotopoulos say their discovery is an important step to preventing and managing metabolic complications associated with second-generation antipsychotic medications. It is critical to reduce these risks in childhood because adults with mental illness have a 19 per cent increased mortality rate that is largely due to cardiovascular disease risk.
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"We now plan to assess B vitamin status and dietary intake in children who take these medications to gain a better understanding of this association," says Dr. Panagiotopoulos.
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