Welcome to the September/October 2023 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology (JCP). There are many articles in this issue that I hope will increase your knowledge and understanding of psychopharmacology. I would like to highlight a few of them. In a Commentary titled “Will ChatGPT3 Substitute for us as Clozapine Experts?" (pages 400-402), Drs Jose de Leon and Carlos De Las Cuevas discuss their experiences asking an AI-based tool, ChatGPT3, to write answers to questions regarding clozapine. ChatGPT3 provided nonexistent references using articles from real journals, with real authors, false PubMed identifiers, and false titles. In my Editorial titled, “Artificial Intelligence and the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology" on pages 397-398, I discuss the policies of JCP for authors and reviewers regarding the use of AI. The Editorial has an accompanying podcast that can be found here.
I am excited to announce that we are bringing back the “Ask the Experts" column. Please email your questions on clinical psychopharmacology or difficult clinical problems to our office: [email protected]. Details can be found in the Editor's Note on page 399.
In a paper titled, “Assessing Adherence to Clozapine: Practical Considerations" on pages 417-421, Flanagan and colleagues studied the incidence of nonadherence to clozapine in samples submitted to a clozapine therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) service from 1993-2017. They found that while adherence to clozapine may be good in general, tolerance to its potentially fatal cardiovascular effects is easily lost. They also found that in treatment-resistant schizophrenia, the risk of self-harm increases if clozapine is not taken regularly. The paper has an accompanying podcast that can be found here. In another study of the use of clozapine, Grover and colleagues, in a paper titled, “Clinician Reasons for Stopping Clozapine: A Retrospective Cohort Study", (pages 403-406), studied the incidence and reasons clinicians stopped clozapine in patients after initiating treatment. They report clinicians stopped clozapine in only 5.14% of cases, with the most common reasons being blood dyscrasias, poor medication adherence making it challenging to monitor the hemogram, and sedation.
Finally, in a review paper by Uguz and colleagues (pages 434-452) titled “Prophylactic Management of Women With Bipolar Disorder During Pregnancy and the Perinatal Period: Clinical Scenario-Based Practical Recommendations From A Group of Perinatal Psychiatry Authors," the authors provide a clinical update and specific management strategies for women with bipolar disorder during pregnancy and the perinatal period.
And as you will see, there are many interesting Original Contributions, Brief Reports, Review Articles, and Letters to the Editor in the September/October 2023 issue! And don't forget to check out the podcasts!
Anthony J. Rothschild, MD
Editor-in-Chief
