J Korean Soc Biol Psychiatry.  1998 Jun;5(1):34-45.

Neuropeptides in Clinical Psychiatric Research : Endorphins and Cholecystokinins

• Kim YH
• Shin JC

Abstract

We provide the reader with a brief introduction to the neurobiology of neuropeptides. Several comprehensive reviews of the distribution and neurochemical. neurophysiological. neuropharmacological and behavioral effects of the major neuropeptides have recently appeared. In reviews of the large number of neuropeptides in brain and their occurance in brain regions thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of major psychiatric disorders, investigators have sought to determine whether alternations in neuropeptide systems are associated with schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, alcoholism and neurodegenerative disease. There is no longer any doubt that neuropeptide-containing are altered in several neuropsychiatric disorders. One of the factors that has hindered neuropeptide research to a considerable extent is the lack of pharmacological agents that specifically alter the synaptic availability of neuropeptides. With the exception of naloxone and naltrexone, the opiate-receptor antagonists, there are few available neuropeptide-receptor antagonists. Two independent classes of neuropeptide-receptor antagonists has been expected to be clinically useful. Naltrexone a potent micro-receptor antagonist has been used successfully to reduce the need for alcohol consumption. And cholecycstokinin antagonists are now in development as a new class of anxiolytics, which would be expected to be free from tolerance and physical dependence and lack of sedation. In this review, we deal with these two kinds of neuropeptide system, the opioid system and cholesystokinins in the brain. The role of opioid systems in the reinforcement after alcohol consumtion and that of cholesystokinins in the pathogenesis of anxiety will be discussed briefly. As we know, the future for neuropeptides in psychiatry remains bright indeed.

MeSH Terms

Alcohol Drinking
Alcoholism
Anti-Anxiety Agents
Anxiety
Anxiety Disorders
Brain
Cholecystokinin*
Endorphins*
Humans
Mood Disorders
Naloxone
Naltrexone
Neurobiology
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Neuropeptides*
Panic
Research Personnel
Schizophrenia
Anti-Anxiety Agents
Cholecystokinin
Endorphins
Naloxone
Naltrexone
Neuropeptides