Get some basic information on a mental illness.

1. AN
“INVISIBLE”
DISEASE
Catherine Sutton
BIOC 660

2. Consider… • A 17 year old patient has become withdrawn from
friends and family over the past few years.The patient
has never really done well in school and often seems
distracted and is easily startled. Recently, the patient
broke down and appeared to be arguing with herself,
or maybe someone else. Someone who was not there.

3. Question 1:
What could the patient be
experiencing?
Question 2:
What would be your diagnosis based
on the patient’s behavior?

6. Case Study • Make sure the patient seeks counseling
• An MRI scan
– Rule out brain tumor effects
– Abnormalities in brain structure have been observed in
sufferers of schizophrenia
• Do a genetic study via a blood sample
– 273 of the 365 biomarkers for schizophrenia are found in
blood serum

7. Two Main Targeted Receptors
Dopamine Receptors
• MainTarget: Dopamine ReceptorTwo (D2R)
Glutamate Receptors
• MainTarget: N-methyl D-Aspartate Receptor
(NMDARs)
• There is no known cure for schizophrenia, only treatments for the symptoms (although this seems up for debate)
• A full understanding of how or why this disease occurs is unknown, however there are some theories:
• overactive dopamine binding
• low glutamate related to overactive dopamine binding

8. Chlorpromazine:
The first effective
neuroleptic drug
• Discovered in 1950, was the
first antipsychotic drug
• Antagonist to dopamine
• Reduces positive psychotic
symptoms
– ex: hallucinations and
delusions

9. Glutamate Receptor
Drugs: Hope for negative
psychotic symptom
treatment
• Activated through glutamate and
glycine bind to the receptor
protein, allowing ion flow
• No drugs currently on the market,
but research is being done to
change this
• Glutamate imbalance may cause
abnormal dopamine function
– low glutamate levels are
observed, overactive
dopamine (schizophrenic
symptoms) is also observed

10. Summary of
Treatments
• VerbalTherapy
• DrugTherapy
– TypicalAntipsychotics: chlorpromazine,
haloperidol, trifluoperizine, perphenazine, and
more
– Atypical Antipsychotics: clozapine, risperidone,
iloperidone, lurasidone and more

11. References • https://hanbleceya.com/schizophrenia-america-
infographic/
• http://infographicgalleries.blogspot.com/2013/07/schiz
ophrenia-stats-nfographic_30.html
• http://www.mdedge.com/currentpsychiatry/article/650
04/schizophrenia-other-psychotic-disorders/lab-tests-
psychiatric
• http://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/schizo
phrenia
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine_receptor_D2
• http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/202/2/91
• Glutamatergic Antipsychotic Drugs: A New Dawn in
theTreatment of Schizophrenia?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC373
6896/