Current Neuropharmacology - Volume 2, Issue 4, 2004

There are many reports showing prominent interactions between α2 adrenoceptor ligands and opioid drugs. This paper discusses these studies and the evidence available for their potential therapeutic applications. In acute conditions, α2-adrenoceptor antagonists inhibit some of the central and peripheral effects of opioids, while agonists have additive or synergistic effects that can be useful in enhancing opioid analgesia. Chronic Read More

Post stroke depression or PSD is believed to occur in ten to forty percent of all patients who survive stroke. These mood disturbances overlap with primary major depressive disorder in terms of symptom profile, natural history and response to antidepressant medications. Cognitive changes, especially impairments in executive functions, are commonly encountered in PSD. This may be the result of disruption to fronto-thalamo Read More

Distribution, pharmacological and knockdown studies point to a role of group I receptors in nociceptive processing. mGlu1 and mGlu5 receptors are expressed on peripheral sensory afferents, in dorsal root ganglion neurons, dorsal and ventral horn of spinal cord, rostral ventromedial medulla, periaqeductal gray, amygdala, and ventrobasal thalamus. These receptors are functional: sensory neurons in these regions respond to Read More

Buprenorphine, an opioid with mixed agonist-antagonist activity at classical opioid receptors, has been approved recently for the treatment of opioid dependency. Buprenorphine is also used as an analgesic. The buprenorphine dose-response curve is sometimes submaximal, or even bell-shaped, in nociceptive assays, depending upon the nature and intensity of the noxious stimulus. Moreover, buprenorphine, when admini Read More

During pre- and early postnatal development, the neurotransmitter serotonin (5-HT) modulates cell proliferation, migration and programmed cell death, as well as cell shape and cell-cell coupling. These “trophic” effects of 5-HT, involving the cytoskeletal function, the cell cycle, and programmed cell death, can be both dependent and independent of the changes in resting membrane potential that typically define ne Read More

This review presents a link between histamine and epilepsy and provides the experimental evidence available so far on the effect of histamine and histaminergic agents in various seizure models. Agents that deplete brain histamine potentiate experimental convulsions while those enhancing tend to have anticonvulsant effects. Such effects are shown to be mediated via H1 and / or H3 but not H2 receptors. Lately, a large num Read More