Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 12, Issue 30, 2006

This is the fourth issue of Current Pharmaceutical Design discussing applications of PET and SPECT in drug development. The initial issue (Vol. 6, No. 16, 2000) described methods for measuring the deposition, biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of drugs including their interactions with certain targets. The second issue (Vol. 8, No. 16, 2002) focused on the interface between nuclear medicine and molecular biology. A third issue Read More

The involvement of the norepinephrine transporter (NET) in the pathophysiology and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), substance abuse, neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD)) and depression has long been recognized. However, many of these important findings have resulted from studies in vitro using postmortem tissues; as of now, these r Read More

Cyclooxygenase is an enzyme that catalyzes the first two steps in the biosynthesis of prostanoids. The constitutively expressed isoform COX-1 is regarded as a housekeeping enzyme that is responsible for the normal production of prostanoids. The inducible isoform COX-2, on the other hand, is transiently induced during inflammation by various stimuli. Increasing evidence has shown that COX-2 is not only implicated in inflam Read More

Sigma receptors are classified into sigma1 and sigma2 subtypes. These subtypes display a different tissue distribution and a distinct physiological and pharmacological profile in the central and peripheral nervous system. The characterization of these subtypes and the discovery of new specific sigma receptor ligands demonstrated that sigma receptors are novel targets for the therapeutic treatment of neuropsychiatric diseases Read More

Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), ubiquitously distributed in the human brain, are implicated in various neurophysiological processes and in the pathophysiology and/or treatment strategies of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, Tourette's syndrome, epilepsy, schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety, as well as being particularly affected in tobacco dependence/withdrawal. In the past two decade Read More

The development of receptor-binding radiotracers has evolved from a goal of high affinity compounds to give high target to non target ratios to compounds of slightly lesser affinity so that they can reach either steady state after bolus injection or equilibrium after infusion. The other important advance is the ability to measure endogenous neurotransmitter, using various lower affinity muscarinic acetylcholine receptor Read More

Mammalian reproduction is a complex physiological process involving a tightly regulated hypothalamicpituitary- gonadal axis and the integration of a diverse array of molecular signals. Oral contraceptives (OCs) were introduced over 40 years ago and have evolved over the years through the discovery of new estrogens and progestins, the development of progestin-only pills and the reduction of the estrogen content in combin Read More

Immunoglobulin E (IgE) plays a central role in the development of allergic diseases. In sensitized individuals, IgE antibodies bind to receptors on mast cell and basophil surfaces, releasing preformed and newly generated mediators that initiate an immunologic cascade and inflammatory symptoms. Omalizumab (Xolair®) is a humanized monoclonal antibody designed to bind specifically to IgE. It was approved by the Unite Read More

The rising number of elderly people has a major impact on healthcare systems. Advancing age is a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which represents a major global healthcare problem. The clinical efficacy and safety of lipid lowering treatment (especially statins) is well established following a series of large-scale, randomised controlled trials, which mainly recruited patients unde Read More