abstract：:The hypocretins (abbreviated 'Hcrts' - also called 'orexins') are two neuropeptides secreted exclusively by a small population of neurons in the lateral hypothalamus. These peptides bind to two receptors located throughout the brain in nuclei associated with diverse cognitive and physiological functions. Initially, th...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Carter ME,Schaich Borg J,de Lecea L

更新日期：2009-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a bioactive phospholipid, and its family of cognate G protein-coupled receptors have demonstrated roles in many biological functions in the nervous system. To date, five LPA receptors have been identified, and additional receptors may exist. Most of these receptors have been genetically de...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Noguchi K,Herr D,Mutoh T,Chun J

更新日期：2009-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) has been proposed to contribute to pain transmission and inflammation and for these reasons to the mechanism of migraine. CGRP is, in fact, expressed in and released from a subset of polymodal primary sensory neurons of the trigeminal ganglion. Release of CGRP in the dorsal spina...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Benemei S,Nicoletti P,Capone JG,Geppetti P

更新日期：2009-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are common conditions diagnosed by established symptom-based criteria. Dysregulation of the brain-gut axis is emerging as the primary pathophysiologic mechanism for FGIDs; this opens avenues for newer treatment modalities. Psychotropic agents act on a variety of neurotrans...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Grover M,Drossman DA

更新日期：2008-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Over the past few years small molecule inhibitors of both Src family kinases and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) have entered clinical studies for the treatment of solid tumours. These adhesion-linked kinases are involved in a number of pathways that have impact on the behaviour of tumour cells and the challenge is now, h...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Brunton VG,Frame MC

更新日期：2008-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:There is a growing body of evidence that although medical or surgical castration blocks the generation of gonadal testosterone in prostate cancer, androgens originating from other sources may continue to drive androgen receptor (AR) signaling. Recent studies have demonstrated high intratumoral levels of androgens and ...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Yap TA,Carden CP,Attard G,de Bono JS

更新日期：2008-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:During the past few years, a possible link between skeletal muscle contractile activity and immune changes has been established. This concept is based on the finding that exercise provokes an increase in a number of cytokines. We have suggested that cytokines and other peptides that are produced; expressed and release...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Nielsen S,Pedersen BK

更新日期：2008-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Oligonucleotide-based therapeutics have been hailed as 'the next great wave of the biotechnology revolution' starting with antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) nearly 20 years ago to RNA interference (RNAi) currently. Is RNAi just the latest research tool or does it have real potential as a therapeutic drug modality? As ...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： de Fougerolles A,Novobrantseva T

更新日期：2008-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Airway epithelial cells provide mechanical and immune protection against pathogens and allergens. Following activation, these cells produce a wide range of cytokines including thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). Recently it was established that a high level of TSLP is associated with asthma in mice and in humans. The...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Rochman Y,Leonard WJ

更新日期：2008-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The dynamic regulation of the structure, function and turnover of mitochondria is recognized as an immutable control node maintaining cellular integrity and homeostasis. The term 'mitohormesis' has recently been coined to describe the adaptive reprogramming of mitochondrial biology in response to low levels of metabol...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Schwartz DR,Sack MN

更新日期：2008-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The first therapeutic aptamer was approved for human use in 2004, and a range of chemical substitutions that improve the drug-like properties of aptamers has recently been shown to increase the utility of this modality. Currently there are both anticoagulant and antithrombotic aptamers in the clinic, and additionally ...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Keefe AD,Schaub RG

更新日期：2008-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Antidepressants are among the most widely prescribed drugs, however the mechanism underlying their therapeutic efficacy is not known. Neurotrophic factors represent a promising class of targets for antidepressant treatments. We recently characterized a role for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in cellular and...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Warner-Schmidt JL,Duman RS

更新日期：2008-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Sulfonylurea receptor 1 (SUR1) is a molecule with more diverse and critically important functions than previously recognized. Long viewed simply as a subunit involved in formation of a subset of K(ATP) channels, accumulating evidence indicates that SUR1 is newly upregulated in CNS ischemia and injury and is surprising...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Simard JM,Woo SK,Bhatta S,Gerzanich V

更新日期：2008-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Clostridium difficile disease is the major, known cause of nosocomial diarrhea and is an emerging cause of community-associated diarrhea. Recent outbreaks due to a strain of apparent increased virulence, BI/NAP1, and recognition of increasing metronidazole treatment failures as well as the morbidity associated with re...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Balagopal A,Sears CL

更新日期：2007-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:In the last decade, the relationship between drug dosing and treatment efficacy for life-threatening fungal infections has been clarified by application of pharmacodynamic principles to the study of antifungal agents. Similar to antibacterials, antifungal agents can display static or cidal patterns of activity against...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Lewis RE

更新日期：2007-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that significantly contributes to morbidity and mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis. Defective mucociliary clearance associated with the absence of the functional cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator in airway epithelium plays a critical role in...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Gómez MI,Prince A

更新日期：2007-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Although only 5-10% of patients with asthma are relatively unresponsive to treatment with inhaled corticosteroids, refractory asthma represents an important condition, as these patients suffer considerable morbidity and mortality and consume a disproportionately large amount of health resource. Treatment options are l...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Berry M,Brightling C,Pavord I,Wardlaw A

更新日期：2007-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Hyponatremia is a common electrolyte disorder with the potential to cause serious neurological complications. Conventional therapies for hyponatremia have been found to be inconsistently effective. Arginine vasopressin (AVP) is etiologically critical for hyponatremia, and it has been proven that AVP receptor (AVP-R) a...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Arai Y,Fujimori A,Sudoh K,Sasamata M

更新日期：2007-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Regulator of G protein signalling (RGS) proteins are GTPase-activating proteins for heterotrimeric G protein alpha subunits, and are therefore physiologically and pathophysiologically important negative regulators of G-protein-coupled receptor signalling in the cardiovascular system. Owing to the functional redundancy...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Wieland T,Lutz S,Chidiac P

更新日期：2007-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Inverse agonism has gone from an initial curiosity to a now well-recognized phenomenon. This has demanded expansion of receptor theory models to account for multiple receptor states and a re-definition of ligand efficacy. However, after several decades of discovery, the clinical importance of inverse agonist ligands i...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Parra S,Bond RA

更新日期：2007-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Leptin and adiponectin are the major adipokines secreted by fat cells. Leptin effects energy homeostasis by decreasing food intake and by acting on lipogenesis and fatty acid oxidation. Elucidation of the mechanisms of action of adiponectin (Acrp30), a hormone considered to be a major insulin-sensitizing hormone, and ...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Lafontan M,Viguerie N

更新日期：2006-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Opiate drugs, such as morphine, are renowned for their analgesic properties. To date, opioid narcotics represent the largest and most potent class of pain relievers available to treat both acute and chronic pain conditions. The use of opiates, however, is severely limited by several adverse side effects. Upon chronic ...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Bohn LM,Raehal KM

更新日期：2006-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The bioavailability of drugs with an absorption window in the upper small intestine is generally limited with conventional pharmaceutical dosage forms. The residence time of such systems and, thus, of their drug release into the stomach and upper intestine is often short. To overcome this restriction and to increase t...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Streubel A,Siepmann J,Bodmeier R

更新日期：2006-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Neutrophils are instrumental in innate immunity by mediating immediate removal of pathogens. Recent findings demonstrate that they are able to communicate with dendritic cells, which form a link between innate and adaptive immunity by stimulating long-term memory T cell responses. This communication occurs through the...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Ludwig IS,Geijtenbeek TB,van Kooyk Y

更新日期：2006-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Inhibition of the DNA repair enzyme poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1) has been extensively investigated in the pre-clinical setting as a strategy for chemo- or radio-potentiation. Recent evidence has suggested that PARP inhibitors might be active as single agents in certain rare inherited cancers that carry DNA r...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Plummer ER

更新日期：2006-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Recent advances in the management of gastric cancer, especially in the arena of chemotherapy, are paving the way for optimization of treatment that maximizes effectiveness while minimizing toxicity. The expansion of the chemotherapeutic armamentarium has led to multiple combinations of cytotoxic agents. Unfortunately,...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Park DJ,Lenz HJ

更新日期：2006-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is the most common form of the interstitial lung diseases and is characterized by chronic progressive pulmonary parenchymal fibrosis. Although the diagnosis and pathophysiology of this disease have been better characterized over the past few years, there remains no effective therapy for t...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Bhatt N,Baran CP,Allen J,Magro C,Marsh CB

更新日期：2006-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Reactive oxygen species play important roles in the pathophysiology of chronic heart failure secondary to chronic left ventricular hypertrophy or myocardial infarction. Reactive oxygen species influence several components of the phenotype of the failing heart, including contractile function, interstitial fibrosis, end...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Murdoch CE,Grieve DJ,Cave AC,Looi YH,Shah AM

更新日期：2006-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:A nuclear protein, high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), is released passively by necrotic cells, and actively by macrophages/monocytes in response to exogenous and endogenous inflammatory stimuli. After binding to the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) or toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), HMGB1 activates vas...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Li W,Sama AE,Wang H

更新日期：2006-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:It is increasingly being appreciated that GABAA receptor subtypes, through their specific regional, cellular and subcellular localization, are linked to distinct neuronal circuits and consequently serve distinct functions. GABAA receptor subtype-selective drugs are therefore expected to provide novel pharmacological p...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Rudolph U,Möhler H

更新日期：2006-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:For decades it has been thought that a neuron releases only one classical neurotransmitter from all of its processes. However, recent work has shown that most neuronal populations release more than one classical transmitter, and indeed that the transmitters can be segregated into different processes of the same neuron...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Seal RP,Edwards RH

更新日期：2006-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is increasingly common worldwide; symptoms differ between individuals and endoscopically visible injury is present in only about 50% of cases. Although GERD is a disorder of gastrointestinal motility and structure, the most effective therapy is based on the use of acid antisecret...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Armstrong D

更新日期：2005-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Osteoporosis is characterized by low bone mass and increased susceptibility to fracture. Recent in vitro studies showed that strontium ranelate, a novel agent containing two strontium atoms, acts as an effective anti-osteoporotic drug by inhibiting bone resorption by osteoclasts and promoting osteoblast replication an...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Marie PJ

更新日期：2005-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Although a prominent cause of upper and lower respiratory tract disease in infants and the elderly, clinical options for treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections remain limited. Historically, attempts to develop vaccines have been unsuccessful, and rapid viral mutation rates have stifled development o...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Leaman DW

更新日期：2005-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:In response to the emergence of parasite drug resistance to currently deployed antimalarials, the scientific community, in partnership with the pharmaceutical industry and public organizations, has fashioned an antimalarial drug development portfolio for the sustained development and registration of safe, effective an...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Biagini GA,O'Neill PM,Bray PG,Ward SA

更新日期：2005-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:In our enthusiasm to advocate apoptosis as a therapeutic strategy for the management of disease we need to be mindful that the clearance of apoptotic cells is itself immunomodulatory and that it may not always be as benign or beneficial as we think. Indeed, the existence of free apoptotic cells in situ may potentially...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Brown SB,Vernon-Wilson EF

更新日期：2005-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The CD28 and B7 protein families are critical regulators of immune responses and, in the past few years, several new family members have been identified. Preclinical studies exploring the role of members of the CD28 and B7 families support the targeting of these pathways for new therapeutic approaches. Indeed, recent ...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Carreno BM,Carter LL,Collins M

更新日期：2005-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Siglecs are sialic acid-binding Ig-like lectins expressed in a highly specific manner, and which are implicated in signaling and adhesive functions. The CD33-related siglecs represent a distinct subgroup that is undergoing rapid evolution within the innate immune system, with the potential to trigger apoptosis and pro...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Crocker PR

更新日期：2005-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitors and other agents that modulate intracellular cGMP are now emerging as promising, safe, and easy to administer therapies for pulmonary hypertension, with relatively few side effects. Recent studies have shown that PDE5 inhibitors are potent acute pulmonary vasodilators in experimen...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Steiner MK,Preston IR,Klinger JR,Hill NS

更新日期：2005-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Neuromuscular blocking drugs were introduced into clinical practice in 1942. Although these drugs made new surgical techniques possible, they also led to morbidity and mortality owing to respiratory muscle paralysis and paralysis in the face of inadequate anesthesia. Newer competitive antagonists at the neuromuscular ...

journal_title：Current opinion in pharmacology

authors： Flood P

更新日期：2005-06-01 00:00:00