Posted by jrbecker on July 31, 2003, at 14:44:19
In reply to Re: Race is on... » jrbecker, posted by wendy b. on July 31, 2003, at 8:24:41
> > what they fail to mention in this article is that both these drugs (and similar lines of compounds in development from these companies) are being tested for mood disorders. Memory Pharm's program concentrates on PDE4 inhibitors, which helps to increase cAMP, and thus (brain-derived neurotrphic factor) BDNF in the brain. Cortex's research focuses on AMPAkines, a line of compounds thought to have a therapeutic role in a variety of psychiarric illnesses, including Alzheimer's, Schizophrenia, and mood disorders, via BDNF and other neuroprotective actions.
>
> >Both of these lines of drug research underscore the theory of neural degeneration/neural plasticity that might [partially or more fully explain] the underlying causes behind some psychiatric disorders.
>
>
> Dear JR,
>
> What are the PDE4, BNDF, and cAMP compounds, and what do they do? Can you refer me to any literature (not too techinical? Is that even possible?) on these? I am interested in the mood-stabilization aspect, and the neural degeneration/plasticity issues...
> Also, I like to impress my pdoc, on occasion, with my vast stores of knowledge... He's very reluctant to experiment with my meds, and I get a little tired of it... Anyway, if you have any references that might be interesting on these compounds or related material, I'd be interested, maybe some others here, too.
>
> Thanks,
> WendyWendy,
There are really no trials on these meds yet for depression (they are in early phase trials for other conditions). It's certain that such studies will be surfacing soon in the next couple of years though -- if not for these particular compounds discussed in the above article, then for others like them. As you'll read more about in the links I've provided, all antidepressants as well as the mood stabilizers, lithium and depakote, protect against neurodegeneration, to varying degrees. In fact, the notion of this singular role that they all have in common is what makes many researchers contend why these drugs actually work. But remember, this is just one theory for the underlying cause(s) of depression and bipolar disorder. The real biological causes are most likely multivariant and differ for different people. But this is much closer to the real roots of it than believing it's just a matter of correcting serotonin and norepinephrine levels, etc.
Hopefully these links will provide some info, some are fairly straightforward summaries, and some are technical. Take your pick...
http://www.mcmanweb.com/article-234.htm
http://www.mcmanweb.com/article-191.htm
http://www.psycheducation.org/mechanism/BDNF.htm
http://www.future-drugs.com/admin/articlefile/ern020310.pdf
http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/npp/journal/v22/n1/abs/1395408a.html
http://www.memorypharm.com/pipeline.html
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/439479_1
http://www.cortexpharm.com/html/news/01/01-30-01.html
poster:jrbecker
thread:246746
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030728/msgs/247069.html