NYMC Faculty Publications

Unmet Needs in the Treatment of Schizophrenia: New Targets to Help Different Symptom Domains

Author Type(s)

Faculty

DOI

10.4088/JCP.13049su1c.04

Journal Title

The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

First Page

21

Last Page

26

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2014

Department

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Keywords

Antipsychotic Agents, Cognition Disorders, Glycine, Humans, Molecular Targeted Therapy, Receptors, Glutamate, Schizophrenia, Serine, alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

Abstract

Current treatments for schizophrenia, although effective for positive symptoms, have not proven as effective for negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction. Additional strategies, such as combining antipsychotics or adding adjunctive agents to antipsychotics, have also yielded disappointing results in both negative and cognitive symptom domains. However, the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor hypofunction hypothesis, with its focus on the glutamate system's effect on dopamine, can explain the positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia. Therapeutic targets are being explored that focus on NMDA receptors (eg, glycine, d-serine), glycine reuptake inhibition (such as sarcosine and bitopertin), and, through a different pathway, α-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonism (eg, encenicline).

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