Comparing haloperidol with clozapine as treatments for schizophrenia

Schizophrenia affects about 1% of the total population. It is a complex psychological disorder that may be caused by the interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Studies have identified some candidate genes that may contribute to the cause of the disorder. However, most genetics finding in schizophrenia have not been implicated in clinical use. Antipsychotics are drugs commonly used to treat psychosis, such as schizophrenia. First-generation antipsychotics, or typical antipsychotics (e.g. haloperidol), were the first type of medicine for psychosis that was developed. They mainly target dopamine D2 receptors in the basal ganglia and possibly the mesolimbic pathway as antagonists. Second-generation antipsychotics, or atypical antipsychotics, including clozapine, were developed after typical antipsychotics. They have multiple targets and cause less extrapyramidal side effects. Since atypical antipsychotics target multiple receptors, the complexity of these drugs is extremely high, and we now do not have a solid understanding of their mechanism of action.