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Book Review: Galanin: An Endogenous Anticonvulsant?Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine and West LA VA Medical Center, Los Angeles, mazarati{at}ucla.edu
Department of Neuropharmacology, The Harrold L. Dorris Neurological Research Center, La Jolla, CA, Department of Neurochemistry and Neurotoxicology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Department of Neuropharmacology, The Harrold L. Dorris Neurological Research Center, La Jolla, CA Galanin is a neuroendocrine peptide involved in the regulation of feeding, pain, sexual behavior, learning, and memory. The recent discovery, that galanin antagonized excitatory glutamatergic neurotransmission in the hippocampus, provided a rationale for its possible antiepileptic effects. Here we summarize the data on the effects of galanin on seizure activity in several animal models of epilepsy. Pharmacological and molecular biological evidence suggest potent anticonvulsant effects of galanin. Exogenous administration of galanin receptor agonists attenuated seizures, whereas application of galanin receptor antagonists potentiated seizure expression. Genetically engineered mice, with either deletion or overexpression of galanin gene, showed altered resistance to seizures, which was in direct correlation with galanin gene expression. Possible mechanisms of the anticonvulsant action of galanin include its effects on synaptic potentiation in hippocampal circuits and inhibition of the release of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate from principal hippocampal neurons.
Key Words: Galanin • Receptors • Epilepsy • Hippocampus • Glutamate • Long-term potentiation
The Neuroscientist, Vol. 7, No. 6,
506-517 (2001) This article has been cited by other articles:
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