Open AccessRelevance of the Kappa Dynorphin System to Schizophrenia and Its Therapeutics
Author(s) -
Anissa AbiDargham
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of psychiatry and brain science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2398-385X
DOI - 10.20900/jpbs.20210015
Subject(s) - dynorphin , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , kappa , relevance (law) , κ opioid receptor , neuroscience , psychology , medicine , psychiatry , political science , philosophy , opioid , receptor , opioid peptide , law , linguistics
Multiple lines of evidence suggest a potential role for the kappa dynorphin system in schizophrenia and its therapeutics. Kappa stimulation acutely and chronically modulates dopamine in opposite ways, where acutely it decreases dopamine transmission and chronically it increases it and it can induce D2 sensitization. In addition, pharmacological evidence from studies using agonist and antagonists at KOR have indicated a therapeutic potential of KOR antagonists for psychosis. We present here a brief overview of the evidence supporting this viewpoint.