Orally disintegrating olanzapine induces less weight gain in adolescents than standard oral tablets.

We compared the changes in weight (kg) and body mass index (BMI) (kg/m(2)) in 52 hospitalized adolescents between baseline and after 12 weeks of monotherapy with either (i) olanzapine (OLZ) orally disintegrating tablets (ODT) (N=16; 16.6 mg/day+/-4.4 [SD]), or (ii) OLZ standard oral tablets (SOT) (N=10; 18.0 mg/day+/-4.2), or (iii) risperidone (N=26; 2.8 mg/day+/-1.2). Significantly greater increases in mean weight and BMI were observed in the patients treated with OLZ SOT (8.9+/-5.1 [SD] kg; 1.9+/-0.6 kg/m(2), respectively) than in those with ODT (3.0+/-2.1 kg; 1.1+/-0.8 kg/m(2)). Similarly, OLZ ODT treatment was associated with significantly greater increases in weight and BMI than risperidone (1.0+/-1.8 kg; 0.4+/-0.7 kg/m(2)). These findings suggest that adolescents gain less weight with OLZ ODT than OLZ SOT, possibly because the former formulation shortens the time of interaction with digestive serotonin receptors mediating satiety.