Acute antipsychotic drug administration lowers body temperature in drug-free male schizophrenic patients.

We examined, in a controlled design, potential alterations in body temperature of male schizophrenic patients following acute antipsychotic drug (APD) administration. Fourteen drug-free (study group) and seven schizophrenic patients maintained on APDs (comparison group) initiated or received higher dose of their APD, respectively, for 27 days. Initial body temperature was 0.36 degrees C higher in the study group (P=0.01) and decreased within 24 h to values comparable to that of the comparison group (all within normal range).