VIENNA, Austria β Off-target actions of currently approved drugs have shown benefit on some symptoms of schizophrenia, a new research suggests.
Specifically, ondansetron and simvastatin showed modest effects in reducing negative symptoms and a trend toward a benefit on cognition in established disease.
Simvastatin is an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor with anti-inflammatory properties, and ondansetron is a 5-HT3 (5-hydroxytryptamine = serotonin) receptor antagonist. Statins decrease levels of C-reactive protein, and 5-HT3 antagonists decrease the tumor necrosis factor-Ξ± response to immune activation in monocytes.