Abstract
The thoughtful comments of Dr Meltzer and Dr Baldessarini and colleagues are very important in advancing both the clinical practice and the therapeutic basis of antipsychotic medication. This letter provides some additional views and information that may be helpful in this discussion. What is the basis of rapid relapse on clozapine withdrawal? To explain those instances of rapid relapse of schizophrenic patients when clozapine therapy is withdrawn, Baldessarini et al 1 give 3 reasonable hypotheses, as mentioned in Meltzer's letter. To consider these different possible mechanisms, it is first important to note that the inhibition constant (k i ) of a neuroleptic drug depends on the radioligand used to label the receptor. 2,3 Clozapine, for example, at the D 2 dopamine receptor has a k i of 390±70 nmol/L (mean[±SD]) using [ 3 H]nemonapride, 186±40 nmol/L using [ 3 H]spiperone, and 83±15 nmol/L using [ 3 H]raclopride. Haloperidol at the D 2 receptor has
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
