The possibility of administration of glutamate receptors antagonists in the treatment of parkinson's disease

Abstract

Parkinson's disease is the slow-progressing chronic neurodegenerative disease. It caused by the progressive destruction and death of neurons that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine, primarily in the substantia nigra and also in other parts of the Central nervous system. Insufficient production of dopamine leads to the activating influence of the basal ganglia to the cerebral cortex. Guiding symptoms are muscle rigidity, hypokinesia, tremor, postural instability. Modern medicine has not yet found methods of curing disease, however, the existing methods of conservative and surgical treatment significantly improve the patient’s quality of life and slow the progression of the disease. There is an assumption of the key role of glutamate receptors excessive activation in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. It can be expected that glutamate receptors may be a new therapeutic target in the treatment of this pathology. The study of glutamate receptors blockers is an important task in the search for new pharmacological agents in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Experiments on animal models suggest the change in the activity of these receptors can facilitate the primary motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease and also side effects caused by the levodopa replacement therapy. AMPA- NMDA receptors antagonists have shown the ability to reverse motor symptoms and levodopa-induced dyskinesia in preclinical models of Parkinson's disease. Metabotropic glutamate receptors antagonists are even more promising in the treatment of Parkinson's disease due to more "accurate" work in the synapse. These drugs also reduce motor deficits, as well as protecting the patient from neurodegeneration. Thus glutamate receptors are a promising target for the development of new pharmacological treatments of Parkinson's disease.