Chris G . Parsons and Wojciech Danysz 18

Preface Introduction to Glutamate Receptors , Their Function and Pharmacology

In the 1970s and 1980s a neurotransmitter role for glutamate, previously considered to be solely a metabolic precursor, was finally accepted (112,119). It is now generally agreed that glutamate is the major fast excitatory neurotransmitter in brain. In fact, it is believed that 70% of the excitatory central nervous system (CNS) synapses utilize glutamate as a transmitter. Glutamate is probably ...

Potential role of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors as executors of neurodegeneration resulting from diverse insults: focus on memantine.

Glutamatergic neurotransmission is critical to normal learning and memory and when the activity of glutamate neurons becomes excessive, or the normal function of its primary receptors becomes dysfunctional, this may lead to pathological changes associated with age-related neurodegenerative diseases. Anomalous glutamatergic activity associated with Alzheimer's disease may be due to a postsynapti...

Glycine and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors: physiological significance and possible therapeutic applications.

Memantine: a NMDA receptor antagonist that improves memory by restoration of homeostasis in the glutamatergic system--too little activation is bad, too much is even worse.

The neurotransmitter glutamate activates several classes of metabotropic receptor and three major types of ionotropic receptor--alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA), kainate and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA). The involvement of glutamate mediated neurotoxicity in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is finding increasing scientific acceptance. Central to this hy...

The NMDA receptor antagonist memantine as a symptomatological and neuroprotective treatment for Alzheimer's disease: preclinical evidence.

There is increasing evidence for the involvement of glutamate-mediated neurotoxicity in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We suggest that glutamate receptors of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type are overactivated in a tonic rather than a phasic manner in this disorder. This continuous mild activation may lead to neuronal damage and impairment of synaptic plasticity (learning). It...