Olanzapine – What Should You Know About It?

Olanzapine is a medicine that belongs to the family of atypical antipsychotics. Doctors prescribe it for the treatment of schizophrenia, and such depressive crises associated with bipolar disorder and manic episodes.

The pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company was responsible for the production and distribution of the olanzapine formula. However, their patent for this drug expired in 2011. As a result, olanzapine is now available worldwide.

Olanzapine: Knowledge about schizophrenia will be essential to get started

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder characterized by distorted thoughts, hallucinations and even delusions. These three symptoms are clinically known as “positive” symptoms. However, the patient may also suffer from symptoms that doctors call “negative”. These are among others:

• social isolation,
• apathy,
• decreased emotional response.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that manifests itself as false thoughts, visions and isolation from loved ones, among other things.

When it comes to the causes of schizophrenia, some people have a greater predisposition to develop the disease due to a number of factors. Some of the factors are:

• Biochemical changes in the brain. People with this disease usually have distorted levels of dopamine and serotonin in the brain.
• Genetic factors. The presence of this disease in a parent or other close relative increases the likelihood of developing it in a child.
• Problems during pregnancy. Certain complications, such as anoxia, along with certain infections and injuries during this period, can affect the baby. Unfortunately, this often leads to this psychological illness and other problems.

Structure and mechanism of action: how does olanzapine work?

This antipsychotic drug has a chemical structure related to benzodiazepines. It is especially structurally related to quetiapine and clozapine. Its antipsychotic effect is due to its interaction with serotonin receptors. The drug blocks these receptors in the 5-HT2 part of the brain.

Moreover, it also interacts with dopamine γ D1 and D2 receptors, albeit moderately. It also has an association with muscarinic cholinergic, alpha-adrenergic and histamine H1 receptors.

Due to all of these interactions, it can cause some adverse effects. We will discuss them in more detail below. Olanzapine can significantly improve both positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia due to its high affinity for these receptors.

It is also worth mentioning that there is also a long-acting formula of this drug.

Pharmacokinetics – how does the body process olanzapine?

Pharmacokinetics includes the absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination processes that a drug passes through when administered to man. In this sense, olanzapine is rapidly absorbed after oral ingestion.

After absorption, the maximum plasma concentration is reached after 6 hours. You must remember that the presence of food does not affect absorption, and this is not the case with all medications.

The chemical structure of olanzapine is related to benzodiazepines. Therefore, it is used to treat schizophrenia, manic episodes and bipolar disorder.

The bioavailability of this drug, i.e. the maximum concentration in the blood at the time of its action, is not very high.

The reason for this is strong first pass hepatic metabolism. Thus, only 40% of the administered dose reaches the systemic circulation.

The metabolism of a drug, which is a set of chemical reactions occurring in the body to obtain greater solubility and thus facilitate the elimination of a substance, occurs in the liver.

After digestion, the resulting substances, called metabolites, may or may not have an effect on the body. In this case, the metabolites produced by the chemical reactions of olanzapine have no pharmacological activity.

After metabolism, both the metabolites and the resulting substance leave the body – 30% with urine, about 55% with faeces.

Adverse effect of olanzapine

The most common side effects are:

• weight gain
• somnolence,
• increase in the level of prolactin,
• increasing the level of cholesterol, glucose and triglycerides,
• dizziness ,
• orthostatic hypotension,
• constipation
• acacia and dyskinesia.

Application

Olanzapine is a widely used drug in the treatment of schizophrenia. Due to its strong effect on the human body, it is available only by prescription. It should not be used unless directed by your doctor. Always follow the instructions and ask the specialist any questions that bother you.