Xanomeline is a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor

Muscarinic receptors, or mAChRs, are acetylcholine receptors that form G protein-coupled in the plasma membranes of certain neurons and other cells...

 agonist

Agonist

An agonist is a chemical that binds to a receptor of a cell and triggers a response by that cell. Agonists often mimic the action of a naturally occurring substance...

 with reasonable selectivity

Binding selectivity

Binding selectivity refers to the differing affinities with which different ligands bind to a substrate forming a complex. A selectivity coefficient is the equilibrium constant for the reaction of displacement by one ligand of another ligand in a complex with the substrate...

 for the M₁

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M1

The muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M1, also known as the cholinergic receptor, muscarinic 1, is a muscarinic receptor.This receptor is found mediating slow EPSP at the ganglion in the postganglionic nerve, is common in exocrine glands and in the CNS.It is predominantly found bound to G proteins...

 and M₄

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M4

The muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M4, also known as the cholinergic receptor, muscarinic 4 , is a protein that, in humans, is encoded by the CHRM4 gene.-Function:...

 subtypes, though it is also known to act as a M₅ receptor

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M5

The human muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M5 which is encoded by the gene is a member of the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily of integral membrane proteins. Binding of the endogenous ligand acetylcholine to the M5 receptor triggers a number of cellular responses such as adenylate cyclase...

 antagonist

Receptor antagonist

A receptor antagonist is a type of receptor ligand or drug that does not provoke a biological response itself upon binding to a receptor, but blocks or dampens agonist-mediated responses...

. It has been studied for the treatment of both Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...

 and schizophrenia

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...

, particularly the cognitive and negative symptoms, although gastrointestinal side effect

Side effect

In medicine, a side effect is an effect, whether therapeutic or adverse, that is secondary to the one intended; although the term is predominantly employed to describe adverse effects, it can also apply to beneficial, but unintended, consequences of the use of a drug.Occasionally, drugs are...

s led to a high drop-out rate in clinical trial

Clinical trial

Clinical trials are a set of procedures in medical research and drug development that are conducted to allow safety and efficacy data to be collected for health interventions...

s. Despite this, xanomeline has been shown to have reasonable efficacy for the treatment of schizophrenia symptoms, and one recent human study found robust improvements in verbal learning

Learning

Learning is acquiring new or modifying existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and some machines. Progress over time tends to follow learning curves.Human learning...

 and short-term memory

Short-term memory

Short-term memory is the capacity for holding a small amount of information in mind in an active, readily available state for a short period of time. The duration of short-term memory is believed to be in the order of seconds. A commonly cited capacity is 7 ± 2 elements...

associated with xanomeline treatment.