Therapeutic potential of 5-HT2C receptor antagonists in the treatment of anxiety disorders.
Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric illness affecting both adults and children. Following the observation that m-chlorophenylpiperazine(mCPP) induced anxiety-like states in patients and in animal models, it was shown that in man, mCPP behaves as a functionally selective agonist at the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)2C receptor. This caused much interest in the development of antagonists at the 5-HT2C receptor for the treatment of anxiety disorders. This review examines the pre-clinical and clinical evidence for a role of the 5-HT2C receptor in anxiety and evaluates the progress of compounds that target this therapeutic approach.
Wood
Martyn D
MD
Psychiatry Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery, Department of Biology, GlaxoSmithKline, New Frontiers Science Park, Third Avenue, Harlow, Essex CM19 5AW, UK. martyn.wood-1@gsk.com
D000818:Animals; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D044405:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2C / Q000378:metabolism; D058830:Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Antagonists; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D044405:Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2C; D058830:Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Antagonists; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists