mGluR5 Positive allosteric modulation as a novel therapeutic target for the cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia have impaired cognitive flexibility, as evidenced by behaviors of perseveration. Cognitive impairments may be due to dysregulation of glutamate and/or loss of neuronal plasticity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The purpose of these studies was to examine the effects of mGluR5 positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) alone and in combination with the NMDAR antagonist MK-801, a pharmacological model of schizophrenia. An operant-based cognitive set-shifting task was utilized to assess cognitive flexibility, in vivo microdialysis procedures to measure extracellular glutamate levels in the mPFC, and diolistic labeling to assess the effects on dendritic spine density and morphology in the mPFC. Results revealed that chronic administration of the mGluR5 PAM CDPPB was able to significantly reduce the effects of chronically administered MK-801 on both behavioral perseveration and glutamate neurotransmission. Results also showed that CDPPB had no evidence of an effect on dendritic spine density or morphology, but the mGluR5 negative allosteric modulator fenobam caused significant increases in spine density and the frequency of occurrence of spines with smaller head diameters. Conclusions include that CDPPB is able to reverse MK-801 induced cognitive deficits as well as alterations in mPFC glutamate neurochemistry. The culmination of these studies add further support for targeting mGluR5 with PAMs as a novel mechanism to alleviate cognitive impairments in patients with schizophrenia.