Hormones in Neurodegeneration, Neuroprotection, and Neurogenesis

As life expectancy increases and population ages, the already enormous impact of neurodegeneration on society will become even larger without better prevention and treatment. Developing strategies to prevent degeneration of neurons and to promote a healthy nervous system is, thus, critical. The development of pharmacological agents that would increase production of new neurons was recently facilitated by the identification of the hormonal regulators of various steps of adult neurogenesis.
Written by a group of top world experts involved in the study of the mechanisms of hormonal control of brain damage and repair, this book gives a comprehensive account of the neuroprotective and neurogenic effects of steroid and polypeptide hormones. It discusses the effects of thyroid and steroid hormones (estrogens, androgens, progestins, gluco–mineralo–corticoids, various neurosteroids) or polypeptide hormones (CRF, urocortins, somatostastin, GH/IGF, leptin, prolactin, glucagon peptides, PACAP, erythropoetin) on neuronal survival and neurogenesis in various neurodegenerative conditions and in brain aging in detail. Furthermore, the book presents new pharmacological approaches for treatment of neurodegenerative conditions based on the neuroprotective and neurogenic properties of natural and synthetic hormones. 
This is an essential resource for all neurobiologists, students and lecturers in pharmacy, endocrinologists, gynecologists, neurochemists, libraries and biotechnological institutes.

Spis treści:
INTRODUCTION
Neuroprotective and neurodamaging effects of stress hormones: impact in brain physiology and pathophysiology
Neurosteroid hormones in brain aging and degeneration: therapeutic implications.
STEROID HORMONES AND NEUROPROTECTION
From structural biochemistry to expression profiling: Neuroprotective activities of estrogen
Estradiol, insulin–like growth factor–I and brain aging
Structure–non genomic neuroprotection relationship of estrogens and estrogen–derived compounds
Are Estrogens Protective or Risk Factors in Brain Injury and Neurodegeneration? Reevaluation after the Women′s Health Initiative
Neurosteroids and spinal cord injury and pain
Neurosteroids and traumatic brain injury
Progesterone: Therapeutic opportunities for neuroprotection and myelin repair
Progestins and neuroprotection: are all progestins created equal?
Glucocorticoids, developmental ′programming′ and the risk of affective dysfunction
Corticosteroid hormones in the central stress response: quick–and–slow.
Neuroactive steroids and peripheral neuropathy
Endogenous and synthetic neurosteroids in treatment of Niemann–Pick Type C disease.
Neuroprotective and neurogenic properties of dehydroepiandrosterone and its synthetic analogs
POLYPEPTIDE HORMONES AND NEUROPROTECTION
Glucagon–like peptide–1 receptor is involved in neuroprotection
Leptin neuroprotection of the CNS
Neuroprotective actions of somatostatin in retina and brain
Protective and regenerative effects of the GH/IGF–I axis on the brain.
Neurotrophic effects of PACAP in the cerebellar cortex
CRF, Urocortin and brain protection
HORMONES AND NEUROGENESIS
Gonadal steroids as neuroregenerative agents.
Growth Factors and Human Neural Stem Cells
Corticosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone and neurogenesis
Erythropoietin and prolactin regulation of neuronal progenitors and neural stem cells.


Nota biograficzna:
Dr. Achille Gravanis is Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Greece. He obtained his PharmD from the University of Athens, and his PhD in Pharmacology from the University Paris 6. Achille Gravanis worked as a researcher in Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York. He participated as a member and Chairman of many research committees of the European Union, Elected Member of the Fellowships Committee of FEBS, Reviewer Panel LS5, European Research Council, Member of the Editorial Board and Reviewer of many international scientific journals. His research focuses on the role of hormonal micro–environment in neurodegenerative diseases and the development of neuroprotective compounds with antiapoptotic and neurogenic activity
Dr. Synthia H. Mellon is Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, The Center for Reproductive Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. She received her PhD in Biochemistry from Columbia University, New York, and postdoctoral training in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Synthia Mellon was awarded the Richard E. Weitzman Memorial Award from The Endocrine Society, was President of Women in Endocrinology, and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She has been a member of numerous Editorial Boards and review committees, and has served as a reviewer for numerous scientific journals. Her research focuses on the developmental regulation of steroid hormone production, and the role of neurosteroids in developmental and neurodegenerative disorders of the nervous system and in the etiology of neuropsychiatric disease.