According to the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia, symptoms of psychosis arise, in part, from dysregulation of central dopaminergic pathways. The activity of dopaminergic neurons is in turn modulated by several neurotransmitters, including, most prominently, serotonin and glutamate. The first generation of antipsychotic drugs (ie, typical antipsychotics) are characterized by potent D2 dopam...

38 first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients and 37 control subjects were recruited for the study of indices of oxidative stress (OxS). The main purpose of the study was to compare the OxS statuses (serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total level of peroxides (TPX), oxidative stress index (OSI), and ratio oxidized methionine (Met-SO) to methionine (Met)) between antipsychotic-naïve FEP patient...

BACKGROUND Antipsychotics have been linked to prolongation of the QT interval. However, little is known about the risk of ventricular arrhythmia (VA) and/or sudden cardiac death (SCD) associated with individual antipsychotic drug use. This study was designed to investigate the association between specific antipsychotic drugs and the risk of VA and/or SCD. METHODS AND RESULTS We conducted a ca...

BACKGROUND People with intellectual disabilities (ID) are prescribed antipsychotic medications for different reasons; sometimes this is for a mental illness such as psychotic or affective symptoms, however antipsychotics are also used to improve behaviours that challenge, which are common in people with intellectual disabilities (ID) or autism or both. Antipsychotic medications can have many un...

BACKGROUND Many women diagnosed with varying psychiatric disorders take antipsychotic medications during pregnancy. The safety of antipsychotic medications in pregnancy is largely unknown. METHODS We established the National Register of Antipsychotic Medications in Pregnancy in 2005. Women who are pregnant and taking an antipsychotic medication are interviewed every 6 weeks during pregnancy a...

OBJECTIVE The present study was carried out to investigate and compare the three methods for calculating total antipsychotic dose among outpatients with schizophrenia attending primary psychiatric health care centers. The three methods were: Defined Daily Doses (DDDs), chlorpromazine equivalents (CPZeq) and percentages of the British National Formulary (BNF) maximum. METHODOLOGY Antipsychotic...

BACKGROUND Clozapine is the only antipsychotic drug licensed for treatment-resistant schizophrenia but its use is often delayed. Since previous studies, national guidelines on the use of clozapine and other antipsychotics have been disseminated to clinicians. AIMS To determine the theoretical delay to clozapine initiation and to quantify the prior use of antipsychotic polypharmacy and high-do...

BACKGROUND Antipsychotic monotherapy is recognized as the treatment of choice for patients with schizophrenia. Simultaneous treatment with multiple antipsychotics (polypharmacy) is suggested by some expert consensus guidelines as the last resort after exhausting monotherapy alternatives. This study assessed the annual rate and duration of antipsychotic monotherapy and its inverse, antipsychotic...

Schizophrenia is characterized by an abnormal dopamine system, and dopamine blockade is the primary mechanism of antipsychotic treatment. Consistent with the known role of dopamine in reward processing, prior research has demonstrated that patients with schizophrenia exhibit impairments in reward-based learning. However, it remains unknown how treatment with antipsychotic medication impacts the...

Repeated administration of antipsychotic drugs to normal rats has been shown to induce a state of dopamine neuron inactivation known as depolarization block, which correlates with the ability of the drugs to exhibit antipsychotic efficacy and extrapyramidal side effects in schizophrenia patients. Nonetheless, in normal rats depolarization block requires weeks of antipsychotic drug administratio...