Melatonin, Liraglutide, and Naltrexone/Bupropion for the Treatment of Obesity and Medication-Related Weight Gain.

Overweight and obesity are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. This is a known problem among individuals with psychiatric illness, which may be partly due to the adverse metabolic effects of certain psychotropic drugs. Melatonin, liraglutide, and naltrexone/bupropion are examples of drugs with different mechanisms of action that have favorable effects on obesity or medication-related weight gain. Melatonin is appropriate to consider for any patient who will be started on a psychotropic drug that is potentially associated with weight gain or other adverse metabolic effects. Liraglutide should also be considered appropriate for use in overweight or obese psychiatric patients, including those with medication-associated weight gain. The use of naltrexone/bupropion may be problematic in patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia because of the potential adverse effects of the bupropion component of the combination. All three drugs deserve further dedicated studies in psychiatric patient populations.