The neurologic processes involved in schizophrenia are complex and diverse and the mechanisms through which antipsychotic agents exert their effects have been only partly elucidated. Hyperprolactinemia is a common side effect of treatment with many antipsychotics and is particularly associated with conventional ('typical') agents as well as the atypical antipsychotic risperidone. In contrast, o...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate patterns of antipsychotic use. DESIGN, SETTING, AND MEASUREMENTS: We used nationally representative data from the IMS Health National Disease and Therapeutic Index to describe outpatient antipsychotic use. The primary outcome was the volume of visits where antipsychotics were used for specific indications (treatment visits). We also quantified use without U.S. Food and Dru...

Either 5-HT2A antagonism or fast dissociation from D2 receptors may define an atypical antipsychotic. To have little or no motor symptoms from an antipsychotic, it is clear that D2 receptor binding in the striatum must be less than that caused by conventional antipsychotics. Pure 5-HT2A antagonism by itself does not result in robust antipsychotic actions. However, 5-HT2A antagonism can reduce D...

“black-box” warnings for all antipsychotic drugs.2 Antipsychotic agents may be classified in several ways. Commonly, they can be designated as older drugs (often called conventional or “typical” antipsychotics) and newer “atypicals.” The term atypical refers to the perceived lower likelihood of extrapyramidal symptoms, a sequela that had been deemed characteristic of the first generation of ant...

Antipsychotic drugs and their clinically impotent congeners were examined as inhibitors of dopamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase (EC 4.6.1.1) in cell-free membrane preparations of the caudate-putamen of rat brain. Of 12 neuroleptic drugs with reported antipsychotic efficacy, all inhibit stimulation of adenylate cyclase by 40 muM dopamine at micromolar concentrations. Among 14 other structurally ...

BACKGROUND: Several antipsychotic agents are known to prolong the QT interval in a dose dependent manner. Corrected QT interval (QTc) exceeding a threshold value of 450 ms may be associated with an increased risk of life threatening arrhythmias. Antipsychotic agents are often given in combination with other psychotropic drugs, such as antidepressants, that may also contribute to QT prolongation...

The pharmacologic management of schizophrenia has dramatically improved over the past 50 years. While the first-generation, or conventional, antipsychotic medications were found to be helpful in reducing the positive symptoms of the disorder, they had little effect on negative and cognitive symptoms. Additionally, the first-generation agents were associated with the troubling neurologic side ef...

Antidepressant medications have eased the suffering of millions of people. In addition to treating depression, antidepressant drugs also treat several anxiety disorders. Unfortunately, there are problematic limitations with antidepressant agents, including a delayed therapeutic response and insufficient efficacy. Emerging evidence shows that atypical antipsychotic agents can be used as augmenta...

BACKGROUND The newer antipsychotic agents exhibit a superior safety profile compared with conventional antipsychotic agents in terms of extrapyramidal symptoms. Previous studies have suggested an association between olanzapine treatment and hyperlipidemia. We evaluated this association using a large health care database. METHODS The study was derived from the England and Wales-based General P...

The importance of medication adherence in sustaining control of schizophrenic symptoms has generated a great deal of interest in comparing levels of treatment adherence with different antipsychotic agents. However, the bulk of the research has yielded results that are often inconsistent. In this prospective, observational study, we assessed the measurement properties of 3 commonly used, pharmac...