Guest editorial

摘要

The current issue of Pharmacology Biochemistry & Behavior addresses the roles of glutamate receptors across major neurological and psychiatric disorders. Each disorder is addressed from the preclinical and clinical perspectives, with a focus of how genetic, pharmacological and postmortem studies inform potential contributions of abnormalities in glutamate transmission towards each condition. The issue begins with an overview of glutamatergic neurotransmission in the nervous system by Sanacora and colleagues. This introductory article provides an overview of glutamate neurotransmitter system physiology and pharmacology. Authors note that the extremely high concentration of glutamate in brain tissue, paired with its excitotoxic potential, require tight physiological regulation of extracellular glutamate levels and receptor signaling in order to assure optimal excitatory neurotransmission but limit excitotoxic damage. Furthermore, the article addresses the complex physiology, with multiple regulatory processes modulating glutamate metabolism, release, receptor signaling, and uptake. Basic physiology of the various regulatory components including receptor pharmacology is briefly reviewed. Potential contributions from each of these components to the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric illnesses are briefly discussed, as are several pharmacological targets for future therapies to treat many of the disorders noted in the specific contributing articles. The first section addresses glutamatergic dysfunction in major psychiatric conditions including schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorders. The second portion of the special issue then contains two contributions that address the role of glutamatergic transmission in mediating the effects of drugs of abuse, as well as potential therapies. The final section then addresses glutamatergic neurotransmission in neurological conditions across the life span, with a series of articles related to prenatal insults, autism spectrum disorders and dementia.