Abstract
Quetiapine is an atypical antipsychotic primarily designed for the management of schizophrenia. However, over the past decades, quetiapine has also been employed as a mood stabilizer receiving Food and Drug Administration approval as monotherapy or adjunctive therapy for conditions like bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder. Moreover, quetiapine has been prescribed off-label for several neuropsychiatric conditions including, among others, generalized anxiety disorder, personality and sleep disorders, delirium, and psychiatric aspects of dementia. The mechanisms underlying the mood-stabilizing actions of quetiapine remain poorly understood. It has been reported that, in combination with its primary metabolite norquetiapine, quetiapine modulates several neurotransmitter systems like serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, and histamine. Although generally regarded as a more tolerable and safe compound compared to other atypical antipsychotics, by acting on several neurotransmitters, quetiapine may carry out some adverse effects such as sedation, weight gain, dry mouth, and diabetes. It is worth mentioning that a higher risk of misuse/abuse of quetiapine has also been reported compared with other antipsychotics. Herein, quetiapine chemistry and developmental history as well as pharmacological and clinical aspects are covered.
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de Miranda, A.S., Ferreira, R.N., Teixeira, A.L., de Miranda, A.S. (2022). Mood Stabilizers: Quetiapine. In: Riederer, P., Laux, G., Nagatsu, T., Le, W., Riederer, C. (eds) NeuroPsychopharmacotherapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62059-2_47
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62059-2_47
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