Pimavanserin, a selective-serotonin inverse agonist that preferentially targets 5-HT2A receptors, while avoiding activity at dopamine and other receptors commonly targeted by antipsychotics had recently been approved by FDA to treat hallucinations and delusions in PD.
Our aim was to describe the efficacy and tolerability of pimavanserin, a highly selective serotonin 5-HT2A receptor inverse agonist/antagonist indicated for the treatment of hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson's disease psychosis (PDP), using the metrics of number needed to treat (NNT) and number needed to harm (NNH).
Delusion symptoms and response to antipsychotic treatment are associated with the 5-HT2A receptor polymorphism (102T/C) in Alzheimer's disease: a 3-year follow-up longitudinal study.
Compared with patients with the 5-HT2A T and C variants, in the Japanese sample T allele carriers showed selective and slower score reductions than C allele carriers in delusion and activity symptoms; on the other hand, in the Italian sample, C allele carriers showed a slower and selective score reduction compared with T allele carriers in Somatic anxiety, while they did not differ from other patients on the other scores.
Patients presenting with middle-aged onset of delusions should be screened for C9ORF72 mutations, especially if family history and parkinsonism are present.
In contrast, C9ORF72-FTLD is predominantly associated with behavioural variant FTD, which often presents with psychosis, most commonly in the form of hallucinations and delusions.
The SNP rs165599, which has been mapped to the 3'-UTR region of the COMT gene, was significantly associated with schizophrenia in our family study, and possibly associated with the age of onset, delusion/hallucination symptom dimension, and CPT performance.
The current results suggest that patients with the BDNF met/met x COMT L allele had more delusional symptoms and poorer cognitive flexibility, compared with the other three genotype interactions.
We tested for preferential transmission of COMT alleles from parent to affected offspring (n = 749) for each of the five factor-derived scales (negative symptoms, delusions, hallucinations, mania, and depression).
We assessed relationships between genotypes/alleles of the DRD3 BalI polymorphism and the presence or absence of psychotic symptoms (delusions, hallucinations) in AD patients during the month prior to interview and at any stage during the dementia.
Specifically, carriers of the DRD1 B2 allele were more likely to be aggressive or experience hallucinations whereas homozygous carriers of the DRD3 1 allele were more likely to experience delusions.