Pridopidine

Potential treatment for Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and schizophrenia. Able to reverse both hypo- and hyperdopaminergia depending on local dopamine concentrations without inducing catalepsy. This was originally attributed to functional dopamine D2 antagonism with fast on/off kinetics (“dopamine stabilizer”). More recent studies have attributed pridopidine’s effects to its being a more potent sigma-1 ligand than a D2 ligand. Displays neuroprotective/restorative effects and ameliorates central features of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis pathology in a sigma-1-mediated manner.