Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0004352 (autism)
 32,579 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Dopamine is an important neuromodulator that exerts widespread effects on the central nervous system (CNS) function. Disruption in dopaminergic neurotransmission can have profound effects on mood and behavior and as such is known to be implicated in various neuropsychiatric behavioral disorders including autism and depression. The subsequent effects on other neurocircuitries due to dysregulated dopamine function have yet to be fully explored. Due to the marked social deficits observed in psychiatric patients, the neuropeptide, oxytocin is emerging as one particular neural substrate that may be influenced by the altered dopamine levels subserving neuropathologic-related behavioral diseases. Oxytocin has a substantial role in social attachment, affiliation and sexual behavior. More recently, it has emerged that disturbances in peripheral and central oxytocin levels have been detected in some patients with dopamine-dependent disorders. Thus, oxytocin is proposed to be a key neural substrate that interacts with central dopamine systems. In addition to psychosocial improvement, oxytocin has recently been implicated in mediating mesolimbic dopamine pathways during drug addiction and withdrawal. This bi-directional role of dopamine has also been implicated during some components of sexual behavior. This review will discuss evidence for the existence dopamine/oxytocin positive interaction in social behavioral paradigms and associated disorders such as sexual dysfunction, autism, addiction, anorexia/bulimia, and depression. Preliminary findings suggest that whilst further rigorous testing has to be conducted to establish a dopamine/oxytocin link in human disorders, animal models seem to indicate the existence of broad and integrated brain circuits where dopamine and oxytocin interactions at least in part mediate socio-affiliative behaviors. A profound disruption to these pathways is likely to underpin associated behavioral disorders. Central oxytocin pathways may serve as a potential therapeutic target to improve mood and socio-affiliative behaviors in patients with profound social deficits and/or drug addiction.
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PMID:Dopamine and oxytocin interactions underlying behaviors: potential contributions to behavioral disorders. 2055 68

We review here that oxytocin (OT) is released into blood and within distinct brain regions in response to stressful and social stimuli, and has been shown to have an antidepressant-like effect in animal studies. Clinical reports suggest OT to be a promising drug for psychiatric diseases such as depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and autism. OT may also have therapeutic potential in the treatment of major depressive disorders, even though OT administered into blood does not readily cross the blood-brain barrier. Physiological functions such as sexual activity and mating induce the release of OT in the central nervous system. A drug for the treatment of sexual dysfunction, sildenafil, enhances the electrically evoked release of OT from the posterior pituitary. This drug has antidepressant-like effects through activation of an OT signaling pathway. These results suggest that sildenafil may have promise as a potential antidepressant.
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PMID:Oxytocin: a therapeutic target for mental disorders. 2300 24

The authors discuss adverse events which are often missed but clinicians should pay attention to in order to preserve patients'quality of life(QOL). Among mood stabilizers, lithium may cause a urinary volume increase, hyperparathyroidism, and serum calcium elevation; sodium valproate possibly increases androgenic hormone levels and the risk of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) as well as hypothyroidism. Moreover, in addition to teratogenesis, it has been reported that fetal exposure to a higher dose of valproate is associated with a lower intelligence quotient and higher incidence of autism spectrum disorders in children. Antidepressants with a higher affinity for serotonin transporters might induce gastrointestinal bleeding, and some antidepressants cause sexual dysfunction more frequently than others. Activation syndrome is still a key side effect which should be noted. Regarding the adverse events of antipsychotics, subjective side effects unpleasant to patients such as dysphoria and a lower subjective well-being should not be overlooked. We clinicians have to cope with adverse events worsening the QOL of patients with psychiatric disorders and, therefore, we need to adopt appropriate counter-measures.
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PMID:[Adverse events of psychotropic drugs]. 2486 67