Dose-response and comparative efficacy and tolerability of quetiapine across psychiatric disorders: A systematic review of the placebo-controlled monotherapy and add-on trials

The atypical antipsychotic, quetiapine, is frequently prescribed on-label and off-label for the treatment of a variety of psychiatric disorders. As quetiapine has variable affinity for dozens of receptors, its clinical effects should also show a large variation as a function of dose and diagnostic category. This study attempts to elucidate the dose-response and comparative efficacy and tolerability (metabolic data) of quetiapine across psychiatric disorders. A systematic search was carried out in the electronic databases, PubMed and EMBASE, using the keywords 'quetiapine' and 'placebo'. Both monotherapy and add-on studies were included. A total of 41 studies were identified. In unipolar and bipolar depression, studies consistently found quetiapine to be effective versus placebo, at doses of approximately 150-300 and 300-600mg per day, respectively. In bipolar mania, they consistently found quetiapine to be effective at doses of approximately 600mg per day. In acute exacerbation of schizophrenia, the majority of studies found quetiapine to be effective at doses of approximately 600mg per day; however, a few large studies found no difference versus placebo. In contrast, studies consistently found quetiapine to be more effective than placebo for stable schizophrenia. In obsessive-compulsive disorder, studies did not consistently find quetiapine to be effective at doses of approximately 300mg per day. However, studies may have underestimated the efficacy of quetiapine for obsessive-compulsive disorder due to concomitant administration of antidepressants and the utilization of treatment-refractory patients. In generalized anxiety disorder, studies consistently found quetiapine to be effective at doses of approximately 150mg per day. Finally, analysis of metabolic tolerability data suggests that even low doses of quetiapine may lead to increase in weight and triglycerides across psychiatric disorders. Interestingly, however, quetiapine-induced elevations in low-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol seem to be restricted to schizophrenia patients.