MONITORING OF THE SERUM PROLACTIN LEVEL IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA PASSED TO 3 MONTH PALIPERIDON THERAPHY FROM 1 MONTH PALIPERIDONE THERAPY
Introduction: Schizophrenia is a disorder in which nonadherence to medication is prevalent. Long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics have been developed to solve this problem. Paliperidone palmitate, an LAI, has two forms: one (PP1M) and three monthly (PP3M). The difference in formulation determines the rate of paliperidone release and the difference in peak-through drug concentration may cause different side effects.
Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate the prolactin levels, hyperprolactinemia-related sexual side effects, and the relationship between psychopathology and prolactin levels in patients with schizophrenia  who were  switched to PP3M treatment from PP1M.  
Materials and Methods: Twenty-five patients who were on paliperidone palmitate treatment for schizophrenia were included in the study. Sociodemographic data form, SCID-I, PANSS and Arizona-SEX were applied to the patients. Serum PRL level was obtained by examining the patients files. The results were evaluated statistically at the P <0.05 significance level.
Results: In our study, a statistically significant decrease in prolactin level, PANNS total score and positive subscale and improvement in sexual function ASEX total score and stimulation subscale were found in 25 patients who underwent PP3M treatment.
Conclusions: In our study, it was observed that prolactin level was significantly decreased in patients who were transferred from PP1M to PP3M. Our data indicates that the decrease in prolactin levels in patients may be associated with improvement in sexual functions and clinical symptomatology. There are few studies comparing paliperidone palmitate forms and findings must be confirmed with large samples and prospective follow-up studies.

MONITORING OF THE SERUM PROLACTIN LEVEL IN PATIENTS WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA PASSED TO 3 MONTHLY FROM 1 MONTHLY PALIPERIDONE THERAPY