Enzyme Inhibitor Might Benefit Schizophrenia Patients

An enzyme called HDAC2 is a promising new target for schizophrenia treatment, Javier Gonzalez-Maeso, Ph.D., of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and colleagues reported August 5 in Nature Neuroscience. They found in studies of rodents that HDAC2 inhibitors augmented the therapeutic-like effects of atypical antipsychotic medications. They hope that one of these inhibitors might turn out to be an effective adjunctive treatment to atypical antipsychotics.

Meanwhile, another potential schizophrenia treatment may have been found—the antibiotic minocycline. Research suggests that it may be able to counter the negative symptoms of the illness. To read more about studies of minocycline in schizophrenia treatment, see the August 17 Psychiatric News.

More information about schizophrenia treatment in general can be found in American Psychiatric Publishing's new Clinical Manual for Treatment of Schizophrenia.

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