Targeting the Neurokinin Receptor 1 with Aprepitant: A Novel Antipruritic Strategy

Targeting the Neurokinin Receptor 1 with Aprepitant: A Novel Antipruritic Strategy

BACKGROUND Chronic pruritus is a global clinical problem with a high impact on the quality of life and lack of specific therapies. It is an excruciating and frequent symptom of e.g. uncurable renal, liver and skin diseases which often does not respond to conventional treatment with e.g. antihistamines. Therefore antipruritic therapies which target physiological mechanisms of pruritus need to be...

The neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist aprepitant is a promising candidate for the treatment of breast cancer.

The substance P (SP)/neurokinin (NK)-1 receptor system plays an important role in the development of cancer. No in-depth studies of the involvement of this system in breast cancer (BC) have been carried out, and the action exerted by the drug aprepitant on BC cells is currently unknown. We show the involvement of this system in human BC cell lines: i) these cells express mRNA for the NK-1 recep...

Targeting neurokinin-3 receptor: a novel anti-angiogenesis strategy for cancer treatment

Angiogenesis is essential for tumor growth and metastasis, controlling angiogenesis is a promising strategy in cancer treatment. However, thus farther severe side effects of anti-angiogenic drugs have been rather demonstrated, stimulating interest in seeking novel targets of anti-angiogenesis. Neurokinin receptors, also known as tachykinin receptors, are usually considered as drug targets due t...

Does neurokinin-1-receptor antagonist aprepitant diminish the efficacy of cyclophosphamide-based chemotherapy?

Antiemetic neurokinin-1 antagonist aprepitant and ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy.

We report the occurrence of an acute encephalopathy following ifosfamide infusion, that we believe directly triggered by aprepitant (Emend, Merck & Co., Inc.). Aprepitant, the first neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist, is a new antiemetic indicated for highly and moderately emetogenic chemotherapy, in association with 5-HT3 receptor antagonists and corticosteroids. A 57-year-old woman presented wi...