Special Issue "Phytochemicals with actions on the Central Nervous System"

Guest Editor
Dr. Sonia Tucci
School of Psychology, University of Liverpool, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South, Liverpool, L37 2LE, UK
Website: http://www.liv.ac.uk/Psychology/staff/stucci.html
E-Mail:
Interests: behavioural neuroscience; psychopharmacology; neurochemical correlates of behaviour; mechanisms of appetite regulation; brain cannabinoid function in relation to appetite and body weight regulation

Dear Colleagues,

The proposed special edition will focus on the positive effects of plants and plant extracts that possess action on the central nervous system (CNS). The effect of plant extracts as appetite regulators, adaptogens, stimulants, hallucinogens, analgesics, anxiolytics, antidepressants and neuroprotectors will be examined. The issue will include anatomical and functional interactions and it is going to focus in both behavioural as well as cellular mechanisms. The edition will start with a brief comment on the field and review of the main areas of research in which these interactions are under current investigation. Where possible clinical as well as basic experimental science will be included. These chapter headings and content are designed to appeal to the largest possible audience within this field (academic, industrial and clinical), but also to prevent overlap and repetition

Sonia Tucci, Ph. D.
Guest Editor

Submission Information

All papers should be submitted to pharmaceuticals@mdpi.org. To be published continuously until the deadline and papers will be listed together at the special issue website.

Submitted papers should not have been published nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere. All papers are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceuticals is a new international, peer-reviewed, quarterly open access journal published by Molecular Diversity Preservation International.

Article Processing Charges (APC) for publication in this open access journal are waived for well-prepared manuscripts submitted by 30 June 2010. English correction or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those paper accepted for publication, that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

Manuscript ID: Pharmaceuticals-Phytochem-20090604-uk-Tucci
Title: Phytochemicals for the Control of Human Appetite and Body Weight
Type of Paper: Review
Author: Sonia Tucci
Abstract: To date there are very few approaches to weight management effective in the long term. This review will focus on the mechanisms of body weight regulation and the effect of plants or plant extracts (phytochemicals) on these mechanisms. As phytochemicals are often not single compounds but rather a mixture of different unrelated molecules, their mechanism of action usually targets several systems. In addition, since some cellular receptors tend to be widely distributed, sometimes a single molecule can have a widespread effect. This chapter will attempt to describe the main phytochemicals that have been suggested to affect the homeostatic mechanisms that regulate, and some non-homeostatic system that influence, body weight. The in vitro, pre-clinical and clinical data will be summarised and scientific evidence will be reviewed.

Manuscript ID: Pharmaceuticals-Phytochem-20090613-se-Panossian
Title: Effects of Adaptogens on the Central Nervous System and the Molecular Mechanisms Associated with their Stress-Protective Activity
Type of Paper: Review
Authors: Alexander Panossian and Georg Wikman
Affiliation: Swedish Herbal Institute Research and Development, Spårvägen 2, SE-432 96 Åskloster, Sweden
Abstract: Adaptogens were initially defined as substances that enhance the “state of non-specific resistance” in stress - a physiological condition that is associated with various disorders of the neuroendocrine-immune system. A large number of herbal preparations used in traditional medicinal systems were assayed using various stress models, and these studies revealed stress-protective, life-span increasing, stimulating and tonic effects, particularly in the central nervous system. However, only a few such preparations have been tested in humans. Following a systematic assessment of clinical trials involving these plants, a more specific and evidence-based definition of adaptogens was formulated for a pharmacotherapeutic group of preparations that increased tolerance to mental exhaustion and enhanced attention and mental endurance in situations of decreased performance such as fatigue and sensation of weakness. Recent pharmacological studies of some adaptogens have provided a rationale for these effects at the molecular level. The beneficial stress-protective activity of adaptogens is associated with the regulation of homeostasis via several mechanisms of action associated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the regulation of key mediators of stress response including molecular chaperons (e.g. HSP70), stress-activated -Jun N-terminal protein kinase 1 (JNK1), Forkhead box O (FOXO) transcription factor DAF-16, cortisol and nitric oxide.

Manuscript ID: Pharmaceuticals- Phytochem-20090917-Favrod-ch
Type of Paper: Review
Title: The Health Effect of Psychostimulants: A Literature Review
Authors: Thierry Favrod-Coune and Barbara Broers
Affiliation: Département de Médecine Communautaire, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève, 24, rue Micheli-du-Crest 24, CH-1211 Genève 14, Switzerland; E-Mail: Thierry.favrod-coune@hcuge.ch
Abstract: Prevalence of psychostimulant use is high, and raising in several countries. Nicotine is the legal stimulant causing the most important public health impact. Cocaine among the most used illicit substance after cannabis. Stimulant medications are frequently misused. Psychostimulants can lead to addiction, have physical, psychological and social health consequences and can induce great burden of disease.
The aim of the present article is to provide a literature review on the health effects of the stimulants as potential drug of abuse. It will cover essentially cocaine, amphetamines and its derivatives (including methamphetamines and 3-4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, ecstasy), nicotine, caffeine and khat, and touch upon the issue of prescribed substances (anti-depressant, weight control medication, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder medication, hypersomniac disorder). Their pharmacology, their addictive potential, health consequences and treatment will be discussed.
We will use Medline for the literature review from 1990 to the date of this review, with the findings of human and animals studies, only if they are of clinical relevance.
Keywords: psychostimulants; cocaine; amphetamines; ecstasy (MDMA); nicotine; caffeine; khat