Efficacy of Estrogen Combined with Thiothixene in reducing positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a chronic disabling disorder which puts heavy burdens on societies. Available treatment methods are mostly effective on positive symptoms of the disorder. Estrogen has been focused to be studied as a potential therapeutic agent in schizophrenia according to findings such as a)a later onset of the disorder in women, b) a relative subside of symptoms during pregnancy, c) a better prognosis of the disorder in women and d) variations of symptoms along with variations of menstrual hormonal phases. As the available evidence is not conclusive, this study aimed at further investigating the efficacy of estrogen in reducing positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

In a Randomized Clinical Trial, we enrolled two 20-person matched groups of female patients with schizophrenia aged between15 to 45 years old. For the patients of the first group thiothixene 15 mg/day and estrogen 0.625 mg/day were administered while for those of the second (control) group thiothixen 15mg/ day and placebo were prescribed. Symptoms of schizophrenia were assessed before intervention and then at the end of the 4th & the 8th weeks by the scale of Positive & Negative Schizophrenia Symptoms (PANSS). Results were analyzed through SPSS-10 using T- tests.

There were significant differences between the two groups in the domains of poor communication (P = 0.04) and stereotypic thoughts (P = 0.04) after the 4th & in the hostility domain after the 8th weeks of intervention. We did not find such a difference in other symptom domains.

Combined with neuroleptics, estorgen may be considered as an adjuvant therapeutic factor in the treatment of schizophrenia. Further investigation is strictly required to assess its harms versus benefits in the long term. Keywords : Schizophrenia, Negative symptoms, Positive symptoms, Estrogen , Thiothixene.