Current Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 15, Issue 24, 2008

One of the most exciting scientific frontiers today is that of neurosciences. There is a growing interest in understanding some of the underlying chemistry which can influence the functioning of the human brain, particularly the chemical changes responsible for neurological and mental diseases such as epilepsy, Alzheimer, schizophrenia and depression. Exciting recent developments in proteomics and genomics promise Read More

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the leading cause of senile dementia, has become a considerable social and economical problem. Current AD therapeutics provide mainly symptomatic short-term benefit, rather than targeting disease mechanisms. The hallmarks for AD are ß-amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, and regionalized neuronal loss. Additional neuropathological features have been described that may pro Read More

The therapeutic arsenal for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains confined to a group of four inhibitors of AChE and one NMDA receptor antagonist, which are used to provide a relief of the very late symptoms of the dementia, i.e. the cognitive and functional decline. In line with the growing body of evidence of the pivotal role of the β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) in the pathogenesis of AD, alternative classes of drug Read More

The identification and characterization of potential pharmacological targets in neurology and psychiatry is a fundamental problem at the intersection between medicinal chemistry and the neurosciences. Exciting new techniques in proteomics and genomics have fostered rapid progress, opening numerous questions as to the functional consequences of ligand binding at the systems level. Psycho- and neuro-activ Read More

Antidepressants and antipsychotics may affect several ion channels involved in the control of cardiac action potential and be proarrhythmic. In this field, accurate understanding of genetics, which per se is a non-controllable risk factor, may help clinicians to prevent life-threatening side effects. So far, a number of genes have been associated with arrhythmia: SCN5A, SCN4B, CACNL1AC, KCNH2, KCNQ1, KCNE1, ANK2, ALG10, KC Read More

The possible role of PGs and NO in the development of S&W of DBA/2J mice was investigated by evaluating the effects of dexamethasone, indometacin, mifepristone plus dexamethasone on the S&W, as well as of L-NAME both on the S&W in the electrocorticogram of DBA/2J mice and on morphine- and deltorphin II-induced EEG seizure in rabbits. The results of our data indicate that: a) Both dexamethasone and indome Read More

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are chronic relapsing inflammatory bowel diseases with extremely great variability in presentation and clinical course. For many decades, corticosteroids and aminosalicylates have been the mainstay of the treatment for both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, for the induction and maintenance of remission, respectively. The main limiting factors for the repeated use of corticosteroids or Read More