Improved mitochondrial function in brain aging and Alzheimer disease – the new mechanism of action of the old metabolic enhancer piracetam

  • Piracetam, the prototype of the so-called nootropic drugs’ is used since many years in different countries to treat cognitive impairment in aging and dementia. Findings that piracetam enhances fluidity of brain mitochondrial membranes led to the hypothesis that piracetam might improve mitochondrial function, e.g., might enhance ATP synthesis. This assumption has recently been supported by a number of observations showing enhanced mitochondrial membrane potential, enhanced ATP production, and reduced sensitivity for apoptosis in a variety of cell and animal models for aging and Alzheimer disease. As a specific consequence, substantial evidence for elevated neuronal plasticity as a specific effect of piracetam has emerged. Taken together, this new findings can explain many of the therapeutic effects of piracetam on cognition in aging and dementia as well as different situations of brain dysfunctions. Keywords: mitochondrial dysfunction, alzheimer’s disease, aging, oxidative stress, piracetam

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Metadaten
Author:Kristina Leuner, Christopher Kurz, Giorgio Guidetti, Jean-Marc Orgogozo, Walter E. MüllerGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30-89118
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2010.00044
Parent Title (German):Frontiers in neuropharmacology
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2010
Year of first Publication:2010
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2011/01/12
Tag:aging; alzheimer’s disease; mitochondrial dysfunction; oxidative stress; piracetam
Volume:4
Issue:44
Note:
Copyright: © 2010 Leuner, Kurz, Guidetti, Orgogozo and Müller. This is an open-access article subject to an exclusive license agreement between the authors and the Frontiers Research Foundation, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
Source:Frontiers in neuropharmacology, 4:44 ; doi: 10.3389/fnins.2010.00044
HeBIS-PPN:231032048
Institutes:Biochemie, Chemie und Pharmazie / Pharmazie
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoDeutsches Urheberrecht