Lurasidone: effects, operation and uses of this drug

There are multiple substances and compounds, some obtained directly from nature and others synthesized by man, which have been found to be effective and useful for treating different ailments. The investigation of the properties of these substances is what has given rise to pharmacology. And not only to the one dedicated to the medical field focused on the body, but also on the mind: psychopharmacology.

The latter makes it possible to maintain stabilized different disorders such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, as well as serve help in the treatment of other disorders through the different drugs that have been developed throughout history. One of these drugs used mainly in the treatment of schizophrenia is lurasidone..

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What is lurasidone?

lurasidone It is a psychoactive drug classified within the group of atypical antipsychotics., which are substances that by altering different elements at the brain level try to combat the symptoms of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.

The fact that it is classified within atypical antipsychotics is due to the fact that it is one of the products of the research carried out to generate drugs that do not had as many side effects as the first antipsychotics that were discovered and at the same time tried to improve the effectiveness in the treatment of negative symptomatology (which decreases the functionality of the patient by reducing its activation), something in which the typical or classic ones did not produce any effect and even could get worse...

lurasidone It helps to reduce mainly the symptoms called positive (not because it is good but because it adds elements and hyperactive to the subject) such as hallucinations, vegetative hyperarousal and the feeling of restlessness and nervousness. Likewise, as an atypical antipsychotic, it also reduces symptoms such as alogia, anhedonia, and passivity and low energy levels. It has also been observed to increase sleep and appetite in patients with schizophrenia and similar disorders.

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Mechanism of action

The operation of lurasidone is based, as in most antipsychotics, on the blockade of dopamine D2 receptors of the mesolimbic pathway. And it is that it has been observed that positive symptoms, such as hallucinations and delusions, could be caused by an excess of dopamine on that road. It also has a relevant interaction with the serotonergic system, and to a lesser extent with the norepinephrine.

The first of these effects could be achieved by typical antipsychotics, but these have the disadvantage that they act by blocking dopamine. It is non-specific and affects many other brain pathways in which there is no dopaminergic alteration or even a lack of it (this deficit being in the mesocortical pathway, which is considered responsible for the negative symptoms), causing unpleasant and even dangerous secondary alterations. For this reason, alternatives were sought and they ended up generating atypical antipsychotics.

And it is that these, including lurasidone, stand out because although its mechanism of action involves blocking D2 receptors, also has an effect on brain serotonin, reducing it. This neurotransmitter has an inhibitory effect on the synthesis of dopamine, and is also found in much greater amounts in the cerebral cortex, with which when serotonin levels drop, dopamine levels rise in those areas other than the mesolimbic pathway.

In this way, the antagonistic action of the drug towards dopamine reduces the levels of this hormone in the mesolimbic pathway, but in the The rest of the brain does not produce an alteration because the decrease that the drug would generate is compensated by the decrease in the serotonin as an inhibitor of its synthesis (and even in the mesocortical pathway produces a slight increase, improving symptoms negative).

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What is it used for?

Lurasidone is a drug whose main indication is schizophrenia, in which has considerable effectiveness in reducing both positive and negative symptoms. In addition to this, it is also effective in other psychotic disorders such as chronic delusional disorder.

But its use is not limited solely to disorders within the psychotic spectrum. Lurasidone is also quite effective in the presence of depressive episodes in the context of bipolar disorder, increasing energy levels and reducing the anhedonia typical of these episodes

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Side effects, risks and contraindications

Although it has fewer side effects and a higher level of safety than typical antipsychotics, The truth is that lurasidone can cause various discomforts and may even be contraindicated in some patients.

It has been observed that consumption of this substance can cause sedation, dizziness, hyperthermia, weight gain, hyperglycemia, increased thirst and hunger, hypersalivation, sexual disturbances such as decreased sexual desire or milk secretion from the breasts (regardless of sex), agitation, tremors, nausea and vomiting, choking sensation or tachycardia, among others. Bradykinesia, involuntary oral and orofacial movements such as dyskinesia and in some cases even seizures are also being observed.

At the level of contraindications, should avoid this drug or be especially careful when pregnant, people who take other medications (especially psychoactive drugs such as antidepressants) and the elderly with dementia (who are more likely to die with consumption) or who have had a stroke.