Neurodegenerative Diseases and Antipsychotics Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from lectures on neurodegenerative diseases, antipsychotics, and antidepressants.

CNS Drugs

Drugs that affect the central nervous system (CNS) by altering some step in the neurotransmission process, influencing neurotransmitter production, storage, release, or termination of action, or by activating or blocking postsynaptic receptors.

Parkinsonism

A progressive neurological disorder of muscle movement characterized by tremors, muscular rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural abnormalities.

Substantia Nigra

The part of the extrapyramidal system that is the source of dopaminergic neurons terminating in the neostriatum.

Corpus Striatum

Parts of the basal ganglia system involved in motor control, where destruction of dopaminergic neurons leads to Parkinson's disease.

Levodopa

A metabolic precursor of dopamine that restores dopaminergic neurotransmission in the neostriatum by enhancing dopamine synthesis.

Carbidopa

A dopamine decarboxylase inhibitor that does not cross the blood-brain barrier and diminishes the metabolism of levodopa in the periphery.

Selegiline

Inhibits monoamine oxidase (MAO) type B, increasing dopamine levels in the brain and enhancing the actions of levodopa.

3-O-Methyldopa

A substance that when peripheral dopamine decarboxylase activity is inhibited by carbidopa, is formed that competes with levodopa for active transport into the CNS.

Entacapone

Inhibits COMT, leading to decreased plasma concentrations of 3-O-methyldopa, increased central uptake of levodopa, and greater concentrations of brain dopamine.

Dopamine Receptor Agonists

Ergot or non-ergot drugs that have a longer duration of action than levodopa and are effective in patients exhibiting fluctuations in response to levodopa.

Alzheimer’s disease

Disease characterized by accumulation of senile plaques, formation of neurofibrillary tangles, and loss of cortical neurons.

Memantine

An NMDA receptor antagonist indicated for moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease that blocks the NMDA receptor, limiting Calcium influx into the neuron.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

An autoimmune inflammatory demyelinating disease of the CNS treated with drugs that modify the immune response.

Natalizumab

Monoclonal antibody indicated for MS in patients who have failed first-line therapies.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

Progressive degeneration of motor neurons, resulting in the inability to initiate or control muscle movement.

Riluzole

An NMDA receptor antagonist indicated for the management of ALS; believed to act by inhibiting glutamate release and blocking sodium channels.

Anxiolytics

Drugs used to treat anxiety; often cause some sedation and may be used as both anxiolytic and hypnotic agents.

Benzodiazepines

Drugs widely used as anxiolytics that modulate GABA effects by binding to specific sites on GABAA receptors, increasing the frequency of channel openings produced by GABA.

Flumazenil

GABA receptor antagonist that can rapidly reverse the effects of benzodiazepines.

Buspirone

Medication useful for the chronic treatment of GAD that lacks the anticonvulsant and muscle-relaxant properties of the benzodiazepines.

Zolpidem

Hypnotic (not structurally related to benzodiazepines) that selectively binds to the benzodiazepine receptor subtype BZ1.

Ramelteon

Selective agonist at the MT1 and MT2 subtypes of melatonin receptors indicated for the treatment of insomnia characterized by difficulty falling asleep.

Antidepressants

Drugs that potentiate the actions of norepinephrine and/or serotonin (5-HT) in the brain; used for the treatment of depression.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)

Drugs that specifically inhibit serotonin reuptake with greater selectivity for the serotonin transporter, as compared to the norepinephrine transporter.

Serotonin/Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs)

Drugs that inhibit the reuptake of both serotonin and norepinephrine.

Mirtazapine

Enhances serotonin and norepinephrine neurotransmission by serving as an antagonist at presynaptic α2 receptors; also, some of the antidepressant activity may be related to antagonism at 5-HT2 receptors.

Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs)

Drugs that block norepinephrine and serotonin reuptake into the presynaptic neuron.

Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs)

Inactivates the enzyme permitting neurotransmitters to escape degradation and accumulate within the presynaptic neuron and leak into the synaptic space.

Lithium

Used acutely and prophylactically for managing bipolar patients; effective in treating 60% to 80% of patients exhibiting mania and hypomania.

Antipsychotic Drugs

Drugs used primarily to treat schizophrenia, but they are also effective in other psychotic and manic states.

First-Generation Antipsychotics

Drugs that are competitive inhibitors at a variety of receptors, but exhibit antipsychotic effects that reflect in competitive blocking of dopamine D2 receptors.

Second-Generation Antipsychotic Drugs

Drugs that have lower incidence of EPS than the first-generation agents but are associated with a higher risk of metabolic side effects.

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome

A potentially fatal reaction to antipsychotic drugs characterized by muscle rigidity, fever, altered mental status and stupor, unstable blood pressure, and myoglobinemia.