Association between antipsychotic drugs, antidepressant drugs and venous thromboembolism: results from the EDITH case-control study.

Cohort studies suggest that exposure to antipsychotic agents may be associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Few data concerning antidepressant drugs are available. Using a different methodological approach, the aim of this study was to estimate the association between neuroleptic and antidepressant drug use and the risk of VTE. We report the results of a case-control study designed to evaluate interactions between acquired and inherited risk factors of VTE. We included 677 cases hospitalized with deep vein thrombosis and or pulmonary embolism with no major acquired risk factor for VTE, and 677 controls matched for gender and age. Drug exposure was defined as current use of drugs at admission. Neuroleptic exposure was associated with an increased risk of VTE (OR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.4-3.2). Among neuroleptics, antipsychotic agent use was associated with a 3.5-fold increased risk of VTE (OR = 3.5, 95% CI 2.0-6.2). No association was found between antidepressant drug exposure and the risk of VTE (OR = 1.1, 95% CI 0.9-1.5). In this hospital-based case-control study, exposure to antipsychotic drugs was associated with an increased risk of VTE. These results, added to previous results, suggest that clinicians should consider antipsychotic drug exposure as a potential risk factor of VTE. More studies are needed in order to further elucidate this adverse effect, and to determine the possible predisposing factors and the biological mechanisms involved.

Temperature-induced phase change in a fat. A study by electron spin resonance.

Electron Spin Resonance, Differential Scanning Calorimetry and rheological techniques have been used to study the physical changes induced by temperature in lard and in the solid and liquid fractions obtained by fractionation of lard at 15 C. The mobilization process of a C18 fatty acid nitroxide derivative dispersed in the molten fat has been observed in the temperature range -50 to +70C. The mobilization of the probe seemed to be concomitant with the melting of the low melting point glycerides. Above this temperature, all the probes were in the liquid phase and their mobility reflected the viscosity of their liquid environment, or the viscosity of the bulk fat when crystal was no longer present. Probe mobility was temperature dependent, and it was identical for the three fats at the same temperature, despite their different triglyceride compositions.