Nitric Oxide and Schizophrenia

Chung, Young In

Abstract

Schizophrenia is one of the most serious mental disorders affecting around 1% of the world population, yet the pathophysiology of this disorder remains largely unknown. Nitric oxide (NO) has recently been discovered to be an important intracellular messenger in the glutamatergic NMDA pathway of brain and may also operate as an intercellular messenger. There is a growing interest in the role of NO in schizophrenia in that NO has been functionally linked to glutamatergic and dopaminergic systems both of which are strongly implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Three lines of evidence have strongly implicated NO in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. First, NO is intimately connected with glutamatergic and dopaminergic systems which are thought to be dysfunctional in schizophrenia. The second line of evidence is the finding that distribution of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and NO metabolism are altered in schizophrenic patients. Third, NOS inhibitors may have some antipsychotic action. In conclusion, a novel direction of schizophrenia research might benefit from a more thorough understanding of the glutamate/NMDA-NO pathway. And also, compounds targeting the glutamate/NMDA-NO pathway may provide a new approach to the treatment of schizophrenia.