Abstract
Gender differences in the effects of haloperidol and other neuroleptics.A review of the literature on gender differences in the effects of neuroleptics, mainly focused on haloperidol, is presented. Reports both, from clinical studies and from animal experiments, show that some effects of neuroleptic drugs are sexually dimorphic. Premenopausic schizophrenic women show a better therapeutic response than men to neuroleptics and after the menopausia they present more pronounced extrapiramidal symptoms than men. Animal studies show contradictory, results, appearing males or females more affected depending on the type of behavior considered. In order to explain these gender differences a protective role of estrogens on the dopaminergic system has been proposed, although the precise molecular mechanisms implicated have not been yet described.
