https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17460441.2019.1666102
We are optimistic that many of the molecular targets that have emerged from the field of neuroscience will be evaluated over the next few years, yielding better treatments for patients. As predicted in a 2014 commentary, new technologies are defining disease phenotypes [25Hyman SE. Revitalizing psychiatric therapeutics. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2014 Jan;39(1):220–229.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]]. And if multi-modality biomarker efforts are realized, it will be possible in the not-to-distant future to alter the trajectory of individuals at risk for psychiatric disorders.
There is a table in the article of drugs in development, including a number of early phase 1, some I have heard of, a few others this is my first time reading about.
TAK-041, a GPR139 agonist for anhedonia
NRX-101 fixed dose combination of D-cycloserine and lurasidone
CVN058, a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist for cognitive impairment
ASP4345, D1 receptor modulator, add on for cognitive impairment
Some interesting stuff in there for treatment resistant depression, bipolar and OCD as well.
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TAK-041, a GPR139 agonist for anhedonia
GPR139 (G protein-coupled receptor 139) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GPR139 gene. GPR139 is an orphan G-protein–coupled receptor expressed in the central nervous system.
The expression pattern of GPR139 has primarily been studied on the mRNA level and showed expression mainly in the central nervous system.
GPR139 is an orphan receptor identified from bioinformatics analysis of the human genome. GPR139 is thus a potential target for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, obesity, eating disorders, and/or diabetes.
The GPR139 is expressed specifically in the brain in areas of relevance for motor control. GPR139 function and signal transduction pathways are elusive, and results in the literature are even contradictory. GPR139 agonists dose-dependently protect primary dopaminergic (DA) neurons against MPP+ toxicity.
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That’s great and all but it pisses me off that they focus on 1-2 receptors at at time. How do they even test or know which ones to focus on? Rats and monkeys??? Just a guess. I think they should focus on the root cause or exact cause. My suspicion it is a virus like the noroviurs for example. I may be wrong, but at least I’m trying. They could do much better. It’s not profitable though. You can patent a medication that focuses on 1-2 receptors but you can’t make as much money on a cure.
I can’t wait until computers get more powerful and AI gets involved. Maybe open source projects can cure schizophrenia. I think the government can do it and private industry is actually lagging behind a lot. Take SpaceX for example. They think they’re so great but NASA had that technology since the 40s in my opinion. They say private industry does wonders but we all know the government is ahead maybe 40-50 years at least in development and research.
A cure could be profitable, it would just have to be priced reflecting it not being a recurring purchase.
Just in this list there are about a dozen different mechanisms, from the familiar to the more exotic like potassium channel modulators, PDE9 inhibitors, glyT1 inhibitors, AMPA PAM, NMDA receptor antagonists, DAAO inhibitors, and the more familiar 5HTs.
I think if there was one single cause we would have figured it out by now.
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