Bipolar disorder: Candidate drug targets

Current pharmacotherapy for bipolar disorder is generally unsatisfactory for a large number of patients. Even With adequate modern bipolar pharmacological therapies, many afflicted individuals continue to have persistent mood episode relapses, residual symptoms, functional impairment, and psychosocial disability. Creating novel therapeutics for bipolar disorder is urgently needed. Promising drug targets and compouunds for bipolar disorder worthy of further study include both systems and intracellular pathways and targets. Specifically, the purinergic system, the dynorphin Opioid neuropeptide system, the cholinergic system (muscarinic and nicotinic system), the melatonin and serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2C] system, the glutamatergic system; and the hypothalmic-pituitary adrenal axis have all been implicated. Intracelluar pathways and targets worthy of further study include glycogen synthase kinase-3 protein, protein kinase C, and the arachidonic acid cascade.