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posted by martyb on Wednesday September 21 2016, @05:49PM   Printer-friendly

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have discovered a key mechanism that explains how compounds they're developing can suppress schizophrenia-like symptoms in mice without side effects.

On the basis of this discovery, reported this month in the journal Neuron, "we now have [a] much stronger understanding of the therapeutic potential and mechanism of action of compounds that are advancing to clinical development," said P. Jeffrey Conn, Ph.D., director of the Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery.

An estimated 3 million Americans have schizophrenia, which is associated with excessive amounts of the neurotransmitter dopamine in a part of the forebrain called the striatum.

Current medications reduce hallucinations and delusions, the hallmark of schizophrenia, by blocking dopamine receptors. But because they also block dopamine receptors in the cerebral cortex, they can worsen cognitive difficulties.

Daniel J. Foster, Jermaine M. Wilson, Daniel H. Remke, M. Suhaib Mahmood, M. Jashim Uddin, Jürgen Wess, Sachin Patel, Lawrence J. Marnett, Colleen M. Niswender, Carrie K. Jones, Zixiu Xiang, Craig W. Lindsley, Jerri M. Rook, P. Jeffrey Conn. Antipsychotic-like Effects of M4 Positive Allosteric Modulators Are Mediated by CB2 Receptor-Dependent Inhibition of Dopamine Release. Neuron, 2016; DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2016.08.017

Good news for sufferers.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 22 2016, @02:10PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 22 2016, @02:10PM (#405137)

    i find it kind of interesting that the stuff related to dopamine production signaling are also receptors for cbd and thc. maybe the theory of a marijuana connection has basis in fact after all.