Current Therapeutic Approaches from Imidazoline and Opioid Receptors Modulators in Neuroprotection

Due to brain plasticity, the nervous system is capable of manifesting behavioral variations, adapted to the influences from both external and internal environment. Multiple neurotransmitters are involved in the mediation of pathological processes at the molecular, cellular, regional, and interregional levels participating in cerebral plasticity, their intervention being responsible for various structural, functional, and behavioral disturbances. The current therapeutic strategies in neuroprotection aim at blocking on different levels, the molecular cascades of the pathophysiological mechanisms responsible for neuronal dysfunctions and ultimately for neuronal death. Different agents influencing these neurotransmitters have demonstrated beneficial effects in neurogenesis and neuroprotection, proved in experimental animal models of focal and global ischemic injuries. Serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, N-methyl-D-aspartate, and nitric oxide have been shown to play a significant role in modulating nervous system injuries. The imidazoline system is one of the important systems involved in human brain functioning. Experimental investigations have revealed the cytoprotective effects of imidazoline I2 receptor ligands against neuronal injury induced by hypoxia in experimental animals. The neuroprotective effects were also highlighted for kappa and delta receptors, whose agonists demonstrated the ability to reduce architectural lesions and to recover neuronal functions of animals with experimentally induced brain ischemia.