Polyamine Analogs and NDMA Receptors

Synthetic polyamine analogs created at the University of Florida are able to modulate the action of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor and therefore could have application in treating neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's and stroke, according to Raymond Bergeron, graduate research professor of medicinal chemistry at Florida University.

The NMDA receptor is ionotropic to calcium ions, and has been implicated in several physiological phenomena important to many higher-order central nervous system functions, which makes it a good therapeutic target for treating certain types of neurological and neuromuscular conditions, said Dr Bergeron. It appears, he added, that polyamine analog therapy offers a unique and potentially effective method for treating these conditions as they can act as either antagonists, by decreasing gate-opening at the NMDA receptors or as agonists by increasing gate-opening.

Florida-based SunPharm Corp has an exclusive license to this polyamine technology. The firm's lead polyamine compound is in Phase I for AIDS-related chronic diarrhea (Marketletter February 20). Stefan Borg, president and chief executive at SunPharm, said that "these findings illustrate the promise of the polyamine analog program, and opens up a number of new therapeutic applications for development."