An experimental medicine study of the phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor, roflumilast, on working memory-related brain activity and episodic memory in schizophrenia patients.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale

Schizophrenia is associated with impairments in cognitive functioning yet there are no approved drugs to treat these deficits.

Objectives

Based on animal models, we investigated the potential for roflumilast, a selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4), to improve cognition, which may act by increasing intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate in brain regions underlying cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.

Methods

This study consisted of a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design involving 15 schizophrenia patients. In 3 treatment periods, patients were given 8 days of placebo or one of the two doses of roflumilast (100 and 250 μg daily) with 14 days of washout between treatments. The primary endpoints were dorsolateral

SUBMITTER: Gilleen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8062361 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature