Heresco-Levy U, Javitt D C
Ezrath Nashim-Herzog Memorial Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 1998 May;8(2):141-52. doi: 10.1016/s0924-977x(97)00050-3.
The study of excitatory amino acids (EAAs) has recently resulted in new and fundamental concepts in neuroscience. This progress has led to a growing awareness of the crucial role that brain EAAs systems play in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, presently the most well understood subtype of EAAs receptors, has been implicated in crucial physiological processes such as synaptogenesis, learning and memory. Dysfunctions of NMDA receptors seem to play a crucial role in the neurobiology of disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy and ischemic stroke. This paper is a review of emerging data indicating that alterations of NMDA receptor function may be pivotal to the pathophysiology of four common psychiatric syndromes: schizophrenia, major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and alcoholism. Special emphasis is placed on the current state of development of pharmacological strategies aiming at the modulation of NMDA receptor-mediated neurotransmission in these disorders.
对兴奋性氨基酸（EAA）的研究最近在神经科学领域带来了新的基本概念。这一进展使人们越来越意识到脑EAA系统在各种生理和病理过程中所起的关键作用。N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸（NMDA）受体是目前对EAA受体了解最深入的亚型，它参与了诸如突触形成、学习和记忆等关键生理过程。NMDA受体功能障碍似乎在帕金森病、阿尔茨海默病、癫痫和缺血性中风等疾病的神经生物学中起着关键作用。本文综述了新出现的数据，这些数据表明NMDA受体功能的改变可能是四种常见精神综合征（精神分裂症、重度抑郁症、创伤后应激障碍和酒精中毒）病理生理学的关键因素。特别强调了旨在调节这些疾病中NMDA受体介导的神经传递的药理学策略的当前发展状况。
