統合失調症は、これまでの「脳内ドパミンの過剰放出により引き起こされ、ドパミン受容体遮断薬により治療する」という"ドパミン仮説"が限界を迎え、全く新しい視点からのブレイクスルーが必要とされていた。その中で注目されているのがグルタミン神経系のAMPA受容体であった。本研究では、これまで生体脳で可視化が不可能であったAMPA受容体を新規薬剤を用いて、統合失調症患者において世界で初めて定量し、本疾患の物質的基盤を明らかにした。
The "dopamine hypothesis" that schizophrenia is caused by excessive dopamine release in the brain and is treated by reducing dopaminergic neural transmission has reached its limits, and a breakthrough from a completely new perspective was needed. AMPA receptors in the glutamatergic nervous system have been the focus of attention. In this study, AMPA receptors, which had been impossible to visualize in the living brain, were quantified in patients with schizophrenia for the first time in the world, and the pathophysiological basis of this disorder was clarified. The results of this study also provided important data for personalized treatment based on pathophysiology by stratifying these patients with various symptoms based on PET images. In other words, the results of this study are expected to lead to the development of novel diagnostic systems and new treatments for psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, based on biomarkers.

研究種目 : 基盤研究 (B) (一般)
研究期間 : 2019～2021
課題番号 : 19H03587
研究分野 : 精神医学