NMDA Antagonists as Potential Analgesic Drugs

by Dalip J.S. Sirinathsinghji (Editor), Ray G. Hill (Editor)

Overview

This book compiles the most recent information on molecular biology, physiology, and pharmacology of NMDA receptors, their neuroanatomical localization within specific neural pathways involved in nociception, and experimental and clinical evidence demonstrating the potential of receptor antagonists of NMDA and other excitatory amino acids in the treatment of pain states.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783764360115
Publisher:	Birkhäuser Basel
Publication date:	04/29/2002
Series:	Progress in Inflammation Research
Edition description:	2002
Pages:	194
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.03(d)

Table of Contents

Pharmacology and electrophysiology of excitatory amino acid receptors.- Distribution of NMDA receptors in brain and spinal cord.- Spinal nociceptive processing: NMDA receptors and modulation by neuropeptides.- The NMDA receptor, pain and central sensitization.- Some pharmacological aspects of NMDA-mediated nociceptive transmission in the rat spinal cord as revealed by c-fos immunocyhemistry.- Interaction of NMDA and other neurotransmitter receptor systems in modulation of nociception.- Behavioural studies on the potential of NMDA receptor antagonists as analgesics.- Clinically available glutamate receptor antagonists in neuropathic pain states.- Future prospects for improved analgesic therapy.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Daniel B. Hier, MD (University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine)
Description: The editors present 10 authoritative reviews relating to a common theme: can NMDA antagonists be analgesic drugs?
Purpose: They seek to explore the suggestion that excitatory amino acids working at the NMDA receptors are important in chronic pain states — and that antagonizing these receptors may offer relief from chronic pain states.
Audience: This book is aimed at experts on excitatory amino acids in the nervous system, pain specialists, pharmacologists, and other research specialists seeking to use advances in the pharmacology of the nervous system to develop new drugs for acute and chronic pain.
Features: The authoritative reviews cover a variety of topics beginning with pharmacology of the excitatory amino acid receptors, the role of the NMDA receptor in spinal cord modification leading to chronic pain states, the use of NMDA antagonists in experimental models of pain, current NMDA antagonists, and future NMDA antagonists and the prospects for pain control.
Assessment: The book is well-edited. The writing is concise and economical. The 10 reviews build logically to the concluding chapters that address whether NMDA receptor antagonists will be useful in the treatment of chronic pain. The material covered is complex and somewhat esoteric, but researchers in the field will find this a clear, vital, and important summary of key issues in their field. The book is recommended to anyone interested in the prospect of pain control via NMDA receptor antagonist therapy.

Doody's Review Service

Reviewer: Daniel B. Hier, MD(University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine)
Description: The editors present 10 authoritative reviews relating to a common theme: can NMDA antagonists be analgesic drugs?
Purpose: They seek to explore the suggestion that excitatory amino acids working at the NMDA receptors are important in chronic pain states — and that antagonizing these receptors may offer relief from chronic pain states.
Audience: This book is aimed at experts on excitatory amino acids in the nervous system, pain specialists, pharmacologists, and other research specialists seeking to use advances in the pharmacology of the nervous system to develop new drugs for acute and chronic pain.
Features: The authoritative reviews cover a variety of topics beginning with pharmacology of the excitatory amino acid receptors, the role of the NMDA receptor in spinal cord modification leading to chronic pain states, the use of NMDA antagonists in experimental models of pain, current NMDA antagonists, and future NMDA antagonists and the prospects for pain control.
Assessment: The book is well-edited. The writing is concise and economical. The 10 reviews build logically to the concluding chapters that address whether NMDA receptor antagonists will be useful in the treatment of chronic pain. The material covered is complex and somewhat esoteric, but researchers in the field will find this a clear, vital, and important summary of key issues in their field. The book is recommended to anyone interested in the prospect of pain control via NMDA receptor antagonist therapy.