Ichinose M, Miura I, Horikoshi S, et al. - Researchers investigated how switching to brexpiprazole monotherapy from other antipsychotics affects levels of plasma homovanillic acid (HVA; a dopamine metabolite thought to be a possible indicator of the response to antipsychotics) and side effects during maintenance treatment of schizophrenia. For the improvement of side effects, switching of the antipsychotics to brexpiprazole was done in 37 Japanese patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Findings revealed significant improvement in extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS), high prolactin levels, and metabolic side effects without elevating plasma HVA levels in correlation with switching to brexpiprazole. Brexpiprazole may stabilize dopaminergic neural transmission and could be a valuable approach to reduce the burden in patients with schizophrenia during the maintenance phase.