Outlook on improving pharmacotherapy in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is undoubtedly an inheritable disorder. Hypoactivity of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is encoded in the GAD 67 gene and of glutamate in the neuregulin-1 and dysbindin-1 genes. The COMT gene, which catalyzes deactivation of dopamine, is associated with dopamine hyperactivity. In the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, hyperactivity of dopamine and serotonin and hypoactivity of glutamate and GABA have been described in the mesolimbic system, but in addition, alterations in the level of neuropeptides in schizophrenic patients have been reported. In the mesolimbic system of schizophrenic patients, the f…