A model for antipsychotic-induced obesity in the male rat.

Introduction: Weight gain is a common and severe side effect of antipsychotic drugs. A usual tool to study the side effects of psychotropic drugs is animal models. However, attempts to create an animal model of antipsychotic-induced weight gain were not successful so far.

Long term treatment with olanzapine mixed with the food in male rats induces body fat deposition with no increase in body weight and no thermogenic alteration.

Body weight gain is a worrying side effect of many new antipsychotic drugs. The mechanisms by which antipsychotic drugs increase weight in humans are not known. Attempts to model the metabolic effects of antipsychotic drugs in the animal have not been successful.

Effects of chronic neuroleptic treatments on nutrient selection, body weight, and body composition in the male rat under dietary self-selection.

New antipsychotic drugs often increase weight and produce metabolic disturbances in treated patients. However, the mechanisms by which neuroleptics induce these undesirable side effects in humans are not known. Studies have shown that antipsychotics can increase body weight in female but not in male rats.