CNS & Neurological Disorders - Drug Targets (Formerly Current Drug Targets - CNS & Neurological Disorders) - Volume 12, Issue 5, 2013

An assay to detect the on-target effects of mGlu2/3 receptor antagonists in vivo would be valuable in guiding dosing regimens for the exploration of biological effects of potential therapeutic import. Multiple approaches involving blockade of mGlu2/3 receptor agoinist-driven behavioral effects in mice and rats were investigated. Most of these methods failed to provide a useful method of detection of antagonists in vivo (e.g., loco Read More

There is no sense organ specifically dedicated to time perception, as there is for other senses such as hearing and vision. However, this subjective sense of time is fundamental to our conception of reality and it creates the temporal course of events in our lives. Here, we explored neurobiological relations from the clinical perspective, examining timing ability in patients with different neurological and psychiatric con Read More

Ischemic acute kidney injury (AKI) is usually accompanied by neuroinflammation-induced encephalopathy. However, the specific mechanism remains unclear. Toll-like receptors (TLR), specifically TLR-4 has been linked to ischemic reperfusion injury in different organs like kidney, brain and liver. Here, we induced an ischemic reperfusion kidney injury in Sprague Dawley rats. All animals were evaluated using behavioral tests Read More

There is an enormous demand for new therapeutic interventions for a range of major disorders. The majority of clinical trials in recent years have been unsuccessful despite highly promising preclinical data. Therefore, an urgent issue confronting both the academic and commercial medical research sectors is how to optimize translation of preclinical studies. The vast majority of preclinical studies are currently performed usi Read More

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by three major histopathological hallmarks: β-amyloid deposits, neurofibrillary tangles and gliosis. While neglected for decades, the neuroinflammatory processes coordinated by microglia are now accepted as etiologic events in AD evolution. Microglial cells are found in close vicinity to amyloid plaques and display various activation phenotypes determined by the expression of a wide ran Read More

Glial cells not only serve supportive and nutritive roles for neurons, but also respond to protracted stress and insults by up-regulating inflammatory processes. The complexity of studying glial activation in vivo has led to the widespread adoption of in vitro approaches, for example the use of the bacterial toxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS, a ligand for toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)) as an experimental model of glial activation. Astrocyte cul Read More

Schizophrenia affects approximately 1% of the world population, and the majority of pharmacologically based treatments for this disorder are ligands that interact with monoaminergic transmission. However, there is a wealth of evidence that various neuropeptides are often co-released with monoamine neurotransmitters, and that ligands acting at neuropeptide receptors modulate monoaminergic transmission as well as Read More

Drug addiction is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder which is characterized by a compulsion to take drugs and loss of control in limiting intake. The worldwide impact of drug addiction on morbidity and mortality is very high. Evidence from preclinical and clinical studies suggests that brain nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), play a critical role in various addictive disorders, including nicotine addiction and alcoholism. Read More

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is critical for the cell power supply in mitochondria. CoQ10 shuttles electrons from complexes I and II to complex III, and can be anti-oxdiative. Neurons require high energy for synaptic transmission and therefore the mitochondria dysfunction often leads to severe neuronal degeneration, as observed in many neurological disorders. CoQ10 supplementation has been widely used to treat aging, stroke Read More

Hipericum perforatum is a well-known herbal for its antidepressant property. Recently, it has been shown to have nootropic effects against neurodegenerative disorders. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the protective role of chronic administration of two standardized extract of Hypericum perforatum SHP1 rich in hyperforin (6 %) and SHP2 extract poor in hyperforin (0.2 %) on the neurodegeneration in Read More

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by the progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc). Although the exact cause of the dopaminergic neurodegeneration remains elusive, recent postmortem and experimental studies have revealed a crucial role of neuroinflammation that is initiated and driven by activated microglial cells and their neurotoxic products during PD pathog Read More

Stroke is the second leading cause of death, after ischemic heart disease, and accounts for 9% of deaths worldwide. According to the World Health Organization [WHO], 15 million people suffer stroke worldwide each year. Of these, more than 6 million die and another 5 million are permanently disabled. Reactive oxygen species [ROS] have been implicated in brain injury after ischemic stroke. There is evidence that a rapid increa Read More