Clozapine modulates retinoid homeostasis in human brain and normalizes serum retinoic acid deficit in patients with schizophrenia.

ABSTRACT: The atypical antipsychotic clozapine is one of the most potent drugs of its class, yet its precise mechanisms of action remain insufficiently understood. Recent evidence points toward the involvement of endogenous retinoic acid (RA) signaling in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Here we investigated whether clozapine may modulate RA-signaling. Effects of clozapine on the catabolism of all-trans RA (at-RA), the biologically most active metabolite of Vitamin A, were assessed in murine and human brain tissue and peripheral blood-derived mononuclear cells (PBMC). In patients with schizophrenia with and without clozapine treatment and matched healthy controls, at-RA serum levels and blood mRNA expression of retinoid-related genes in PBMCs were quantified. Clozapine and its metabolites poten

SUBMITTER: Regen F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8589649 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature