A review of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and schizophrenia cognition / 中国心理卫生杂志

ABSTRACT

This paper briefly introduces the structure and function of α7nAChR, and mainly reviews the relevant researches about the relationship between a7nAChR and cognition of schizophrenia in the last ten years from molecule genetics and new targets of medication two aspects. It suggests that the abnormal α7AChR is involved in cognition impairment of schizophrenia, and the a7nAChR agonist is probably able to improve the impaired cognition in patients with schizophrenia. Furthermore, KAT-2 as a key enzyme acting on its endogenous antagonist KYNA is also promising to become a new drug target