Estrogen as an adjuvant therapy to antipsychotics does not prevent relapse in women suffering from schizophrenia: results of a placebo-controlled double-blind study.

The expected therapeutic effect of estrogen as an adjunct treatment to antipsychotics in women suffering from schizophrenia for relapse prevention was to be tested under real-life conditions. A multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over study based on an A-B-A-B (and/or B-A-B-A) design was applied. Forty-six hypoestrogenic women with schizophrenia hospitalized for the first time or repeatedly were included in the study.

Plasma concentrations of estradiol in women suffering from schizophrenia treated with conventional versus atypical antipsychotics.

Background: Low estrogen levels leading to an elevated rate of menstrual dysfunctions such as amenorrhea and irregular menstruation have been described in women with schizophrenia and have often been attributed to antipsychotic-induced hyperprolactinemia. However, there is some evidence that "hypoestrogenism" in schizophrenic women does not occur exclusively under medication with hyperprolactinemia-inducing antipsychotics. While the precise mechanism of low estrogen levels in schizophrenic women has not been elucidated yet, "hypoestrogenism" is of clinical relevance because estrogen seems to endow an antipsychotic-like effect in schizophrenia and thus positively affect the course of illness in schizophrenic women.