NMDA Antagonists as Potential Analgesic Drugs

Book excerpt: There is now considerable preclinical evidence that glutamate acting via the NMDA receptor is involved in the transmission of nociceptive information and in the triggering mechanisms for hyperalgesia and allodynia. This evidence allows rational development of a new class of analgesic drugs that act as antagonists of the NMDA receptor, supported by emerging evidence with existing excitatory amino acid antagonists. Leading scientists in excitatory amino acid and analgesia research have compiled in this volume the most recent information on molecular biology, physiology and pharmacology of NMDA receptors, their neuroanatomical localisation within specific neural pathways involved in nociception, and experimental and clinical evidence demonstrating the potential of receptor antagonists of NMDA and other excitatory amino acids in the treatment of pain states.