Neurosteroidogenesis : a new pharmacological target for Tourette Syndrome?

Abstract

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a childhood-onset neurological disorder characterised by multiple motor tics and one or more phonic tics. Number, frequency and tic complexity vary over time. Although clinical and epidemiological studies indicate that TS is a partially inherited disorder, its pathogenesis remains poorly understood (Singer, 2005). One of the main features of TS is that its prevalence in children is significantly higher than in adults; in most TS patients, tic severity follows a characteristic time course, with onset at 5-7 years of age, followed by an increase in frequency and intensity until the age 10 and 12 years, and a later remission phase after puberty (Leckman et al., 1998).