You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Plant extracts are widely used for therapeutic purposes. The vegetal origin of these products satisfies people’s desire to cure themselves with natural drugs; this aspect, together with effectiveness and regulatory opportunities, is the base of the broad modern use of medicinal plants. Traditional uses and novel biological effects allow the availability of an extraordinarily high number of different compounds with formidable therapeutic potential. Nevertheless, pitfalls are hidden behind poor pharmacological and toxicological knowledge of plant extracts, nonstandardized methods of extraction, and undefined and nonrepeatable qualitative and quantitative composition. In this context, novel experimental studies on plant products and appreciated and are necessary to reinforce the scientific soundness of phytotherapy. This book aims to respond to this medical need comprehensively highlighting the newest discoveries in vegetal resources with an emphasis on pharmacological activity.
Acute pain has a physiological protective role in preventing tissue damage. However, pain can become chronic due to a multitude of pathophysiological states, such as: trauma, inflammation, neural injury, viral infection, cancer, autoimmune diseases and vascular and metabolic disorders. These pathological states can trigger alterations of the pain pathways that can lead to hypersensitivity, and in such circumstances, pain loses its protective role and instead, becomes persistent and debilitating affecting seriously to the quality of life of patients. Chronic pain is one of the most important health problems worldwide. It has been estimated that 10% of adults are diagnosed with chronic pain ea...
Considering that neurological and psychiatric illnesses do not still have efficient therapies and are becoming increasingly widespread, the search for novel targets appears fundamental. Neuroinflammation, alterations in adult neurogenesis and excitotoxicity, all associated with glutamate transmission dysfunction, are key components of the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric illnesses. Counteracting the neurotoxic actions of glutamate through the modulatory actions of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), represents a rational intervention that offers tolerability compatible with clinical therapy. Their suitability as targets for developing novel therapies is also based o...