title: Neuronal α7 Nicotinic Receptors as a Target for the Treatment of Schizophrenia.
abstract: Schizophrenia is a lifelong disease, the burden of which is often underestimated. Characterized by positive (e.g., hallucinations) and negative (e.g., avolition, amotivation) symptoms, schizophrenia is also accompanied with profound impairments in cognitive function that progress throughout the development of the disease. Although treatment with antipsychotic medications can effectively dampen some of the positive symptoms, these medications largely fail to reverse cognitive deficits or to mitigate negative symptoms. With a worldwide prevalence of approximately 1%, schizophrenia remains a large unmet medical need that stands to benefit greatly from (1) continued research to better understand the biological underpinnings of the disease and (2) the targeted development of novel therapeutics to improve the lives of those affected individuals. Improvements in our understanding of the neuronal networks associated with schizophrenia as well as progress in identifying genetic risk factors and environmental conditions that may predispose individuals to developing the disease are advancing new strategies to study and treat it. Herein, we review the evidence that supports the role of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the central nervous system and why these receptors constitute a promising target to treat some of the prominent symptoms of schizophrenia.
authors.affiliation: SRI International, Menlo Park, California, USA.
authors.forename: Tanya L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.affiliation: HiQScreen Sàrl, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: daniel.bertrand@hiqscreen.com.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bertrand
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018678:Cholinergic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy*; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical; D064569:alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018678:Cholinergic Agents; D064569:alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor
keywords: Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors; Schizophrenia; The cholinergic hypothesis; Translational approach