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Biotech / Medical : Neurobiotechnology -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mike McFarland who wrote (4)	3/27/2000 10:20:00 PM
From: John McCarthy	Respond to of 16

The Great (GFAP) Brain Robbery .......... from the article you posted .......... <<The researchers discovered that the brains of those with the three mental illnesses had significantly lower levels of phosphorylated glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in comparison to the controls. >> unisci.com However, be aware .......... <<COMBATING GLUTAMATE EXCITOXICITY WITH NMDA RECEPTOR ANTAGONISTS>> MEMANTINE ................. <<<< Yet one particular molecule, the non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist memantine, has become the focus of recent interest because of the antagonist's minimal side effects. In fact, memantine has already been used for the clinical treatment of spasticity, Parkinson's disease and dementia (Bresink et al. 1996). In addition, memantine is currently being evaluated in phase II clinical trials as a potential neuroprotectant and analgesic against neuropathic pain (WWW2). Memantine is a low-affinity antagonist that shows fast blocking and unblocking rates and strong voltage-dependency as compared to MK-801 (Black et al. 1996; Bresink et al. 1996). These special kinetic properties seems allow memantine to block the calcium channel long enough to reduce calcium influx, but not so long that it completely blocks the channel's conductance. This moderate modulation of the NMDA receptor may be enough to protect neurons from excitotoxic death without inducing psychosis and antagonist-induced neuronal damage (WWW1). >>>>>>> sulcus.berkeley.edu regards, John McCarthy