Bromocriptine for Patients With Schizophrenia and Prediabetes

Conditions

• PreDiabetes
• Schizophrenia

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

18 Years - N/A

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• Bromocriptine — DRUG
  This is an open-label study, so there is no comparator group. As such there is only one arm. Subjects will receive bromocriptine at a starting dose of 2.5mg daily which will be increased, if tolerated, to 5mg daily after one week. Bromocriptine will be continued for a total of 6 weeks. Laboratory investigations, telephonic interviews, and face to face visits with subjects will be conducted before, during, and after the time period that bromocriptine will be used as detailed in the study design section.

Study Details

This is a multicenter open-label, pilot study to evaluate the safety and tolerability of bromocriptine, a dopamine D2/D3 receptor and serotonin 5-HT2C receptor agonist, as an adjunct to preexisting standard-of-care antipsychotic drug (APD) regimens in the management of APD-associated impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)/insulin resistance (IR). The ultimate aim of the study team is to evaluate the efficacy of bromocriptine in treating the metabolic disturbances associated with APDs and the hypothesis is that bromocriptine will be a well-tolerated, safe, and inexpensive way to ameliorate these metabolic complications and prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes (T2D). This study will be a small, short-duration pilot focusing on safety and tolerability. A total of 15 psychiatrically stable APD-treated adult outpatients, VA Pittsburgh , aged 18 to 65 years old, with a confirmed diagnosis of schizophrenia and comorbid IGT will be recruited and receive 6 weeks of bromocriptine (flexibly titrated, 2.5-5.0 mg PO daily). Key inclusion criteria are: 1) currently being treated with second generation APDs for 3 or more months with no change in dose in the 1 month prior to enrollment, 2) fasting glucose 100 to 125mg/dL and/or hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) 5.7-6.4%. Key exclusions are: 1) prior APD nonadherence, 2) drug/alcohol abuse in the 3 months prior to screening, 3) a history of violent behavior/psychoses, 4) pregnancy, or 5) a diagnosis of diabetes. Subjects on other dopamine agonists or on medications that may interact with bromocriptine and those taking corticosteroids or other medications that may alter glucose levels will be excluded. The purposes of the study are to demonstrate safety/tolerability, demonstrate feasibility, provide proof of concept, and provide an open-label assessment of the metabolic and psychiatric effects of bromocriptine in patients with schizophrenia treated with APDs. The primary metabolic outcome measures will be change in IR as measured by the HOMA-IR and change in IGT measured by HbA1c. Secondary metabolic outcome measures include body weight, fasting lipids, and prolactin. The specific aims are as follows: Specific aim 1: To establish the safety and tolerability of bromocriptine in patients with schizophrenia and IGT/IR treated with APDs. Specific aim 2: To demonstrate feasibility/proof of concept for an improvement in APD-induced IGT/IR with bromocriptine.

Key Dates

Start date

Jan 1, 2026

Status verified

Sep 2025

Primary completion

Jul 31, 2026

Completion

Jul 31, 2026

Study Design

Enrollment

15 participants (estimated)

Allocation

NA

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Arms

• Experimental: Bromocriptine
  This is an open-label study, so there is no comparator group. As such there is only one arm. Subjects will receive bromocriptine at a starting dose of 2.5mg daily which will be increased, if tolerated, to 5mg daily after one week. Bromocriptine will be continued for a total of 6 weeks. Laboratory investigations, telephonic interviews, and face to face visits with subjects will be conducted before, during, and after the time period that bromocriptine will be used as detailed in the study design section.

Primary Outcome Measure

HOMA-IR [ Time Frame: Measured at weeks 0, 4, 6 and 10 (week 10 is four weeks after study drug discontinuation) ]

Central Contacts

• Mary McShea, MS
  412-360-2300
  [email protected]

Locations (1)

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