Current perspectives on selective dopamine D(3) receptor antagonists as pharmacotherapeutics for addictions and related disorders.

ABSTRACT: Repeated exposure to drugs of abuse produces long-term molecular and neurochemical changes that may explain the core features of addiction, such as the compulsive seeking and taking of the drug, as well as the risk of relapse. A growing number of new molecular and cellular targets of addictive drugs have been identified, and rapid advances are being made in relating those targets to specific behavioral phenotypes in animal models of addiction. In this context, the pattern of expression of the dopamine (DA) D(3) receptor in the rodent and human brain and changes in this pattern in response to drugs of abuse have contributed primarily to direct research efforts toward the development of selective DA D(3) receptor antagonists. Growing preclinical evidence indicates that these compounds may ac

SUBMITTER: Heidbreder CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3148950 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature