Carbohydrate disturbances in mental hospital patients. With observations on the effects of azacyclonol

Reports of the diabetogenic effect of azacyclonol in sub-altoxanized rats led to a study of its action on carbohydrate metabolism in a mental hospital population. Two studies were conducted: (1) A retrospective study compared patients who had received azacyclonol for therapeutic reasons with a group of matched patients. (2) A prospective study compared a group of patients placed on azacyclonol with a group of patients on placebo. The retrospective study suggested a diabetogenic effect of azacyclonol in predisposed patients, but the prospective study failed to confirm this. In the retrospective study, half of the patients in the azacyclonol and 'control' groups showed abnormal glucose tolerance tests. In these patients the abnormal composite glucose tolerance test (KGTT) values correlated positively with patients' deviation from the ideal weight. In the prospective study, the pooled KGTT values changed significantly over the 7-month period, but independently of whether the patients were on azacyclonol or on placebo. These changes could not be explained by alteration in weight. Half of the patients in the prospective study who had definitely abnormal KGTT values showed normal results in one of the subsequent tests. Sudden withdrawal of azacyclonol did not appear to affect auditory hallucinations in schizophrenic patients.