Phenothiazines and Related Antipsychotic Drugs

This chapter is a comprehensive account of the medicinal chemistry of antipsychotic drugs. It provides the mechanism of drug action and detail structureactivity relationships of the first- and second-generation antipsychotic and related drugs to give the knowledge base for pharmacists. Upon completion of this chapter, students will be able to:

• Describe the historical background about the development of antipsychotic therapeutics.

• Apply the principles of fundamental pathophysiology of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders and receptors associated with it to their pharmacological action.

• Recognize the dopamine and its chemical analogues and identify the essential structural features to become an antipsychotic agent.

• Differentiate between the positive and negative symptoms and extrapyramidal side effects and distinguish between the typical and atypical classes of antipsychotics.

• Apply the principles of structure-activity relationships to the antipsychotic drugs.

• Delineate the clinical significance of all classes of antipsychotic drugs and their therapeutic indications.

• Identify the therapeutic use, side effects and metabolic pathways of selected first- and second-generation antipsychotic agents.

Keywords: Antipsychotic Drugs, Antianxiety Drugs, Drug-Receptor Interaction, Dopamine, First-Generation Antipsychotics, Structure-Activity Relationship, Second-Generation Antipsychotics, Typical And Atypical Antipsychotic Agents.