Augmentation (pharmacology)

Augmentation, in the context of the pharmacological management of psychiatry, refers to the combination of two or more drugs to achieve better treatment results. Examples include:

• Prescribing an atypical antipsychotic when someone is already taking a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor for the treatment of depression.^[1]
• Prescribing estrogen for someone already being treated with antipsychotics for the management of schizophrenia.^[2]
• Giving an adenosine A2A receptor antagonist on top of existing treatment for Parkinson's disease.^[3]

In pharmacology, the term is occasionally used to describe treatments that increase (augment) the concentration of some substance in the body. This might be done when someone is deficient in a hormone, enzyme, or other endogenous substance. For example:

• Use of DDCIs in addition to L-DOPA, to reduce conversion of L-DOPA outside the brain.
• To give α1 antitrypsin to someone with alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency.^[4]