{"title":"The GABAergic System: An Overview of Physiology, Physiopathology and Therapeutics","authors":"R. Vargas","doi":"10.15344/2456-3501/2018/142","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15344/2456-3501/2018/142","url":null,"abstract":"Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, where it is widely distributed. GABA has an important role in neurodevelopment, and depending on the period of development, its action can be excitatory or inhibitory. In prenatal stages, GABA is excitatory, and in the adult stage, GABA acquires an inhibitory function in the nervous system and modulates the function of other organs and systems including the endocrine system and the immune system. Disorders in the function of GABA are responsible for various pathologies, both neurological and non-neurological, and include epilepsy, anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, endocrine disorders and immunological disorders. In the present narrative review, we show that the activity of GABA depends on the synthesis, degradation, membrane transport and the presence of specific GABA receptors, present in both nervous tissue and non-neural tissue. We describe general aspects of the physiology, physiopathology, and pharmacotherapeutics of the GABA system, and finally, we emphasize that although there are multiple GABAergic therapeutic options, more research is required into the GABA system since future applications may be broad.","PeriodicalId":344260,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapy","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128685154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Clinical Outcomes from Tamoxifen Drug-herb Interactions","authors":"Campos Graça, M. Cupido, R. Tavares, R. Consul","doi":"10.15344/2456-3501/2018/140","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15344/2456-3501/2018/140","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Tamoxifen is an important drug in chemotherapy being part of various protocols in cancer treatment, but is not universally effective even when used before surgery or in preventing recurrence. Pharmacogenetic variability in drug metabolism is one possible mechanism of treatment failure. We hypothesize that Drug-Herb Interactions (DHI) contribute in disease outcomes, nevertheless the functional single nucleotide polymorphisms in drug metabolizing enzymes that activate cytochrome enzymes. Methods: We performed a retrospective study in the last 9 years of clinical cases enrolled in follow up of Observatory of Drug-Herb Interactions, University of Coimbra - Portugal (www.oipm.uc.pt), and the data collected will be discussed in this paper. Data obtained from PubMed and from PubChem Compounds with preference given to the data obtained during the last 10 years, was also obtained. The search terms were varied depending of the Clinical situation. Results: From our experience, in order to avoid the major predictable DHI more observational trials should be carried out for therapeutic protocols associated to tamoxifen. The most consumed, fruits and vegetables, medicinal plants and other natural products associated to the intake of tamoxifen were, for example, Orange and Better juice, Aloe, Geranium, Saint John Wort leaves and flowers, roots as Astragalus, Curcuma, Ginger, Ginseng, Rehmanniae and Valeriana, mushrooms as Coriolus, Maitake, Shiitake and Reishi. Conclusions: Based on the major compounds involved in those products will be predictable how to advice patients doing this kind of treatment and follow a possible therapy failure, or even a toxic event. Our group did a flyer with the main possible interactions selected for DHI with Tamoxifen. This it will be given to patients doing therapy with tamoxifen, helping them to be a aware of the situation and involving all in the resolution for a better outcome (it will be available in our website as other materials for download already posted there).","PeriodicalId":344260,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapy","volume":"96 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114785494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Updates in Solving the Mystery of Alzheimer's Disease Pathology","authors":"R. Au","doi":"10.15344/2456-3501/2018/138","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.15344/2456-3501/2018/138","url":null,"abstract":"In a healthy brain, there are nerve cells or neurons (triangle figures) and synapses (the branches coming out of the nerve cells) as depicted in Figure 1. In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), there are fewer nerve cells and synapses. Plaques are abnormal clusters of beta amyloid protein fragments that build up between nerve cells depicted as orange balls in Figure 1. Dead and dying nerve cells (black triangle figures) contain tangles, which are made up of twisted strands of a protein called Tau.","PeriodicalId":344260,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapy","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122505594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}