Clozapine inhibits cell survival-related genes in bone marrow cells

Abstract

Clozapine, an atypical antipsychotic agent, has been proven as effective for the treatment of refractory schizophrenia. Due to the idiosyncratic clozapine-induced agranulocytosis, the use of clozapine has been limited in the clinic. However, the mechanism of how clozapine induces agranulocytosis is not clear. In this study, the authors found that several cell survival-related genes were changed in clozapine-treated bone marrow cells. These findings supported the postulation for the mechanism of clozapine-induced agranulocytosis.