Another possible mechanism for the neuroprotective effect of paeoniflorin is its conversion to benzoic acid, an intermittent compound that can be transported to the brain via monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) (Kido et al., 2000) and produce neuroprotective effects in schizophrenia (Lane et al., 2013), dementia (Lin et al., 2019; Lin et al., 2021), and early-phase Alzheimer’s disease (Lin et al., 2014). This evidence concerns the gene SLC16A1 and schizophrenia.