Treatment of neuropsychiatric disease with protease and neurominidase inhibitors

摘要

The present invention provides a method of treating a neuropsychiatric disease characterized by an abnormally elevated level of a fragment of an isoform of a neural cell adhesion molecule, N-CAM, in the brain or cerebrospinal fluid of an affected human subject, comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of at least one compound selected from the group consisting of protease inhibitors and neuraminidase inhibitors, whereby administering the compound to the subject treats the human subject. The present invention further provides a method of monitoring the efficacy of treatment with the method of the present invention. Moreover, the present invention provides a method of screening for compounds effective in treating neuropsychiatric disease associated with an abnormally elevated level of a fragment of a neural cell adhesion molecule in the cerebrospinal fluid of an affected human subject. Further provided are fragments of an isoform of N-CAM in the cerebrospinal fluid of human subjects.