Neuropharmacology

Biography

Biography: Eliyahu Dremencov

Abstract

Depression and related mood and anxiety disorders affect, at least once in a lifetime, about one third of the world population. These disorders are considered to be the second major reason for disability in the industrial countries and they are estimated to become the second major reason for disability worldwide within 20 years. Despite relative progress with the development of novel antidepressant, anxiolytic, and mood stabilizing medications, their efficacy remains limited. Almost all antidepressant drugs act on monoamine (serotonin: 5-HT, norepinephrine: NE, and dopamine: DA) systems of the brain. Although monoamines play a central role in pathophysiology and treatment of depression, it is possible that other brain systems should be targeted as well, in order to achieve the better outcome of the treatment. One of such targets is brain histamine. Although histamine play an important role in the regulation of the mood and cognition, its potential role in mood disorders received limited attention. The recent studies, however, report that the certain histamine agents, such as antagonists of histamine-3 (H3) receptors, stimulate 5-HT, NE and DA neurotransmissions and might be therefore used in the treatment of depression. Another potential target is adenosine. Since the aggregation of neurotransmitters into the synaptic vesicles requires adenosine triphosphate (ATP), adenosine, as a product of ATP metabolism, is co-released, together with the “main” neurotransmitter, from all brain neurons. Brain neurons express receptors for adenosine, which indicates that adenosine play a role in neural transmission rather than just being a co-product of the aggregation process. The recent studies demonstrated that adenosine-2A (A2A) receptors interact, on molecular and functional levels, with dopamine-2 (D2) and alpha-2 (α2) adrenergic receptors, and A2A antagonists might be used in the treatment of certain brain disorders. Finally, hypothalamic neuropeptides, such as β-endorphin, neuropeptide Y, oxytocin and vasopressin, playing an important role in reward, emotional processing, and stress response, might be a promising target for the development of novel antidepressant and mood stabilizing treatments.