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The CATIE trials, which became quite famous because of their inclusion in the New York Times, indicated that there hasn’t been a totally brand new mechanism of action in the world of medications for schizophrenia since the 1950s when the first anti psychotic chlorpromazine was introduced. A new drug by Eli Lilly that is in clinical trials may be the first anti psychotic with a novel mechanism of action since chlorpromazine was introduced.
The investigational drug is called LY2140023. And, here is the big news: LY2140023 affects a neurotransmitter called glutamate. It is the first of a brand-new class of drugs called mGlu2/3 receptor agonists.
All anti psychotics used today act on dopamine, a neurotransmitter, a message-carrying chemical in the brain. Blocking dopamine causes very unpleasant side-effects and many schizophrenia patients often stop taking their medications because of the unpleasant side effects. Weight gain and diabetes can both cause early death, and both side effects are caused by the dopamine-blocking medications.
LY2140023 is an investigational medication now. LY2140023 is an experimental drug in an early phase of development which attempts to treat schizophrenia using this new mechanism of action. It seemed to work safely in patients, without the dangerous and annoying side-effects of older drugs. U.S. researchers reported on September 2nd, 2007, 39 articles in English around the world on this topic, indicate that this is an important new development.
Lilly tested the new drug in a double blind study against its older drug Zyprexa in 196 patients in Russia and found it was not as effective as Zyprexa, but the new drug did not cause many of the side-effects of Zypreza, such as weight gain, cholesterol and hormonal changes.
What is a double blind study? Double-blind means that the doctors and the patients are kept in the dark whether the patient is taking LY2140023, Zyprexa or a placebo. This way, the results are more scientifically accurate.
Approximately 32 percent of the patients treated with LY2140023 responded to the treatment, as opposed to 41 percent of patients who got Zyprexa, and just 3 percent of the patients responded to placebos.
LY2140023 patients had fewer side-effects. Most were mild, including nausea and headache and insomnia or sleepiness.
To read more about this topic, go to http://news.google.com and type in the search box: schizophrenia glutamate.