Introduction to the special issue "Pharmacotherapies for the treatment of alcohol abuse and dependence" and a summary of patents targeting other neurotransmitter systems.

Introduction to the special issue "Pharmacotherapies for the treatment of alcohol abuse and dependence" and a summary of patents targeting other neurotransmitter systems. Recent Pat CNS Drug Discov. 2012 Aug;7(2):93-112 Authors: Bell RL, Franklin KM, Hauser SR, Zhou FC Abstract This paper introduces the Special Section: Pharmacotherapies for the Treatment of Alcohol Abuse and Dependence and provides a summary of patents targeting neurotransmitter systems not covered in the other four chapters. The World Health Organization notes that alcoholic-type drinking results in 2.5 million deaths per year, and these deaths occur to a disproportionately greater extent among adolescents and young adults. Developing a pharmacological treatment targeting alcohol abuse and dependence is complicated by (a) the heterogeneous nature of the disease(s), (b) alcohol affecting multiple neurotransmitter and neuromodulator systems, and (c) alcohol affecting multiple organ systems which in turn influence the function of the central nervous system. Presently, the USA Federal Drug Administration has approved three pharmacotherapies for alcoholism: disulfiram, naltrexone, and acamprosate. This chapter provides a summary of the following systems, which are not covered in the accompanying chapters; alcohol and acetaldehyde metabolism, opioid, glycinergic, GABA-A, neurosteroid, dopaminergic, serotonergic, and endocannabinoid, as well as patents targeting these sys...
Source: Recent Patents on CNS Drug Discovery - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Recent Pat CNS Drug Discov Source Type: research