Estrogen receptor activation and tardive dyskinesia.
OBJECTIVE
To undertake a selective review of the epidemiology, etiology, and treatment of tardive dyskinesia (TD), with emphasis on the potential influence of estrogen in its expression.


METHODS
Both Medline and Psycinfo databases were used to search for articles with the following key words: tardive dyskinesia, humans, animals, dopamine, estrogen, estrogen replacement therapy, antioxidants and oxidative stress.


RESULTS
The studies reviewed here suggest that estrogen modulates dopamine-mediated behaviours and that it protects against oxidative stress-induced cell damage caused by long-term exposure to antipsychotic medication.


CONCLUSIONS
Estrogen's multimodal role in the central nervous system may prove useful for the amelioration or prevention of TD. All the evidence suggests that a placebo-controlled, randomized trial with safer forms of estrogen should be conducted in postmenopausal women with TD.
Turrone
P
P
Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Ontario. peter_turrone@camh.net
Seeman
M V
MV
Silvestri
S
S
D000368:Aged; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D004409:Dyskinesia, Drug-Induced / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000187:drug effects; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D004967:Estrogens; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2