Central Nervous System Agents in Medicinal Chemistry (Formerly Current Medicinal Chemistry - Central Nervous System Agents) - Volume 8, Issue 1, 2008

The effect of morphine on the expression on COX-2 and iNOS was considered by evaluating: a) the effects of COX1 and COX2 inhibitors on morphine withdrawal in vitro. Tolmetin (selective COX-1 inhibitor) and meloxicam (selective COX-2 inhibitor) treatment before or after morphine were able of both preventing and reversing the naloxone-induced contracture after exposure to morphine in a concentration-dependent Read More

Negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia remain difficult to treat. Many add-on medications to alleviate these symptoms have been proposed and investigated. In this inventory the various treatment strategies published since 1990 are being reviewed and categorised according to the pharmacological mechanism putatively involved. Notwithstanding the problems one experiences when comparing the applied meas Read More

A series of semicarbazones and thiosemicarbazones were designed and synthesized to meet the structural requirements essential for anticonvulsant activity. All the compounds were evaluated for anticonvulsant activity after intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration to mice by maximal electroshock (MES) and subcutaneous metrazol (ScMet) induced seizure methods and minimal motor impairment was determined by rot Read More

The last 20 years of the twentieth century witnessed a dramatic increase in research aimed at determining the mechanisms that regulate feeding behavior. Researchers, prompted by the alarming increase in the prevalence of obesity have identified many brain neuropeptides, especially in the hypothalamus that promote or inhibit food intake. How the complex interactions of these peptides leads to obesity has been clarified so Read More

Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) describes a decline in cognitive function for weeks or months after surgery with a prevalence in the elderly patient. Numerous methodological limitations make the interpretation of this clinical syndrome, based on the available literature on POCD, difficult, particularly the different definitions of POCD, the lack of control groups and the relative inconsistency in the occurrence of mem Read More

Understanding the molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration represents a scientific priority as it will allow scientists to more specifically target and simultaneously interrupt the multiple pathologic mechanisms that contribute to the progression of dementia in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Oxidative stress represents one of the key processes in AD pathogenesis, related to formation of both amyloid plaques and neurofibrillar Read More

Depressive disorder is a common illness that affects millions of people worldwide and the patients often suffer from symptoms such as depressed mood, sleep disturbances, and suicidal ideation. Since the approval of fluoxetine in the United States nearly 20 years ago, the annual prescription of antidepressants has increased rapidly. However, despite the increasing number of new antidepressants introduced to the clinic, the quali Read More