Glutamatergic dysfunction--newer targets for anti-obsessional drugs.
Despite widespread use and validation of their efficacy, about 40-60% of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) sufferers do not respond to appropriate courses of treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI) and even with the combination of pharmacotherapy and cognitive behaviour therapy a substantial number of patients remain dramatically symptomatic. Recently, there has been increasing interest in investigating glutamatergic dysfunction in OCD. Multiple lines of evidence point toward glutamatergic dysfunction being related to the pathophysiology of OCD, with glutamate modulating drugs being an alternative pharmacological strategy for treating OCD. In this article we focus in detail on the rationale for targeting glutamatergic agents as well as review the recent important patents for compounds that have emerged from these studies.
Bhattacharyya
Sagnik
S
Section of Neuroimaging, Box 67, Division of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, SE5 8AF, UK. s.bhattacharyya@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Chakraborty
Koushik
K
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018698:Glutamic Acid / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000502:physiology; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D010330:Patents as Topic; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate / Q000187:drug effects
D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate; D018698:Glutamic Acid