How does Aripiprazole (Abilify) work?
I'm a student psychiatric nurse in the UK and I've noticed that quite a few clients are treated beside Aripiprazole if they haven't had success with the standard atypicals (Olanzapine, Risperidone, etc.). However, looking at the pharmocology of this drug, I can't read between the lines why it would work for individuals suffering from psychosis.
As I understand it, both typical and atypical APs work as an antagonist at various dopamine receptor sites (specifically D2). However, Ariprprazole acts as a partial agonist of the D2 receptor.
Isn't an agonist a chemical that binds to a receptor site and act like a naturally occuring chemical, in this valise it would be dopamine. Surely then Ariprprazole would not lower psychotic symptoms, or does it work by mimicking dopamine but not having the result i.e. hallucination, delusion, etc..
Answers:
It's a partial agonist; it doesn't stimulate the receptor as strongly as the natural agonist does, so you only get a percentage of the response. Since it also blocks the crude agonist from accessing the receptor, it effectively reduces the signal, just resembling lowering the level of the natural agonist would.
Hello. I was treated awfully briefly with Abilify in 2003 -- it was an categorical nightmare. I had previously been on Seroquel (300 mg) for about a year and have complained of light-headedness so the psychiatrist suggested I try Abilify instead. Abilify was much, much worse...I felt resembling my mind was in a dense and impenetrable fog. Subsequently I switched back to Seroquel and hold been on around 350 mgs every since.
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As I understand it, both typical and atypical APs work as an antagonist at various dopamine receptor sites (specifically D2). However, Ariprprazole acts as a partial agonist of the D2 receptor.
Isn't an agonist a chemical that binds to a receptor site and act like a naturally occuring chemical, in this valise it would be dopamine. Surely then Ariprprazole would not lower psychotic symptoms, or does it work by mimicking dopamine but not having the result i.e. hallucination, delusion, etc..
Answers:
It's a partial agonist; it doesn't stimulate the receptor as strongly as the natural agonist does, so you only get a percentage of the response. Since it also blocks the crude agonist from accessing the receptor, it effectively reduces the signal, just resembling lowering the level of the natural agonist would.
Hello. I was treated awfully briefly with Abilify in 2003 -- it was an categorical nightmare. I had previously been on Seroquel (300 mg) for about a year and have complained of light-headedness so the psychiatrist suggested I try Abilify instead. Abilify was much, much worse...I felt resembling my mind was in a dense and impenetrable fog. Subsequently I switched back to Seroquel and hold been on around 350 mgs every since.
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