Raloxifene in Treatment of Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder

Epidemiological evidence shows a potentially protective role for estrogen in women with schizophrenia. The onset of schizophrenia is later in woman than in men, with generally a less severe course until after the menopause, when for many women, reductions in estrogen levels appear to trigger an exacerbation or illness (Hafner 2003). ERα (Estrogen receptor alpha) expression is known to be reduced in schizophrenia (Wong, Woon et al. 2010). Raloxifene is a selective estrogen receptor modulator that acts as an estrogen antagonist in breast tissue and may have agonistic actions in the brain. Several studies (Kulkarni, Riedel et al. 2001; Chua, de Izquierdo et al. 2005; Kulkarni, Gurvich et al. 2010) indicate that treatment with estrogen and raloxifene improves symptoms in females with schizophrenia, and recently they showed an improvement in PANSS score in post menopausal women with schizophrenia receiving 60-120mg/d of raloxifene compared to placebo