Group II metabotropic glutamate receptor agonists as a potential drug for schizophrenia

Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGlu receptors), with their unique signaling systems and pharmacological characteristics, have emerged as a new topic in excitatory amino acid research. Among them, the unique distribution of group II mGlu receptors, such as mGlu2 and mGlu3 receptors, and the involvement of these receptors in the regulation of neurotransmission are particularly interesting. Recently, potent agonists for mGlu2/3 receptor have been synthesized, and their pharmacological roles have been intensively investigated using animal models. mGlu2/3 receptors clearly have crucial roles in the central nervous system, and accumulating evidence in both rodents and human studies has suggested that agonists for mGlu2/3 receptors may be beneficial for the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Possible neuronal circuits through which mGlu2/3 receptor agonists exert their pharmacological effects have also been investigated.