Curr Neuropharmacol
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Curr Neuropharmacol · Sep 2014
The Gastrin-Releasing Peptide Receptor (GRPR) in the Spinal Cord as a Novel Pharmacological Target.
Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) is a mammalian neuropeptide that acts through the G protein-coupled receptor, GRP receptor (GRPR). Increasing evidence indicates that GRPR-mediated signaling in the central nervous system plays an important role in many physiological processes in mammals. Additionally, we have recently reported that the GRP system within the lumbosacral spinal cord not only controls erection but also triggers ejaculation in male rats. ⋯ Interestingly, these two distinct functions in the same spinal region are both regulated by the neuropeptide, GRP. In this report, we review findings on recently identified GRP/GRPR systems in the spinal cord. These GRP/GRPR systems in the spinal cord provide new insights into pharmacological treatments for psychogenic erectile dysfunction as well as for chronic pruritus.
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Curr Neuropharmacol · Sep 2014
Combination of therapeutic hypothermia and other neuroprotective strategies after an ischemic cerebral insult.
Abrupt deprivation of substrates to neuronal tissue triggers a number of pathological events (the "ischemic cascade") that lead to cell death. As this is a process of delayed neuronal cell death and not an instantaneous event, several pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies have been developed to attenuate or block this cascade. The most promising neuroprotectant so far is therapeutic hypothermia and its beneficial effects have inspired researchers to further improve its protective benefit by combining it with other neuroprotective agents. ⋯ A distinction is made between drugs interrupting only one event of the ischemic cascade from those mitigating different pathways and having multimodal effects. Also the combination of therapeutic hypothermia with hemicraniectomy, gene therapy and protein therapy is briefly discussed. Furthermore, those combinations that have been studied in a clinical setting are also reviewed.