Drug repurposing and emerging adjunctive treatments for schizophrenia

An overview of repurposed drugs and emerging treatments for schizophrenia is presented, focusing on randomized, controlled trials and meta-analyses.

Expert opinion: Despite many years of drug research, several needs in the treatment of schizophrenia including the safety and tolerability, stage-dependent and personalized approaches, as well as drug delivery and sustainability have not been addressed sufficiently.

Given the current failure of a number of mechanistically new drugs, repurposed compounds may serve as alternative and/or adjunctive agents for schizophrenic patients and for treatment refractory patients in particular.

Anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g., acetylsalicylic acid, celecoxib and minocycline),
N-acetylcysteine, a precursor of the major antioxidant glutathione,
hormones (e.g., estrogen, raloxifene and oxytocin),
glutamatergic (e.g., glycine [and sarcosine] and d-serine) and
nicotinergic compounds,
‘nutraceuticals’ (e.g., ω-3 fatty acids)
cannabidiol, an endocannabinoidmodulator

represent promising agents in this field.

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