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Background: There is currently no drug that slows the process of neurodegeneration or alleviates the cognitive and depressive symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Due to the increasing number of Alzheimer's patients, there is an urgent need to develop novel drugs with neuroprotective, procognitive, and antidepressant properties., Objective: The aim of this study was to design, synthesize, and evaluate novel aminoalkanamides with serotonin 5-HT 1A /5-HT ;7 receptor affinity and phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitory activity as a new approach to combat neurodegeneration and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease., Methods: The newly designed compounds were synthesized using classical methods of organic chemistry and tested in vitro for their receptor affinity, functional profile, enzyme inhibition, and ADME properties. The neuroprotective effect against H 2 O 2 -induced increase of reactive oxygen species level was tested in SH-SY5Y cells. The novel object recognition and forced swimming tests were used to evaluate the procognitive and antidepressant activity, respectively., Results: Synthesized aminoalkanamides were characterized as potent 5-HT 1A receptor antagonists with additional 5-HT7 receptor antagonistic properties and PDE4B inhibitory activity. Selected compound 15 showed neuroprotective, procognitive, and antidepressant properties. In addition, compound 15 revealed suitable ADME properties expressed as good membrane permeability and high metabolic stability., Conclusion: This study revealed a new class of compounds that may be useful in the search for an effective drug in the alleviation of neurodegeneration and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most prevalent age-related neurodegenerative disease that affects the cognition, behavior, and daily activities of individuals. Studies indicate that this disease is characterized by several pathological mechanisms, including the accumulation of amyloid-beta peptide, hyperphosphorylation of tau protein, impairment of cholinergic neurotransmission, and increase in inflammatory responses within the central nervous system. Chronic neuroinflammation associated with AD is closely related to disturbances in metabolic processes, including insulin release and glucose metabolism. As AD is also called type III diabetes, diverse compounds having antidiabetic effects have been investigated as potential drugs for its symptomatic and disease-modifying treatment. In addition to insulin and oral antidiabetic drugs, scientific attention has been paid to cyclic-3',5'-adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-specific phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors that can modulate the concentration of glucose and related hormones and exert beneficial effects on memory, mood, and emotional processing. In this review, we present the most recent reports focusing on the involvement of cAMP-specific PDE4, PDE7, and PDE8 in glycemic and inflammatory response controls as well as the potential utility of the PDE inhibitors in the treatment of AD. Besides the results of in vitro and in vivo studies, the review also presents recent reports from clinical trials., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Alzheimer's disease (AD) belongs to the most common forms of dementia that causes a progressive loss of brain cells and leads to memory impairment and decline of other thinking skills. There is yet no effective treatment for AD; hence, the search for new drugs that could improve memory and other cognitive functions is one of the hot research topics worldwide. Scientific efforts are also directed toward combating behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, which are an integral part of the disease. Several studies have indicated that glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3β) plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of AD. Moreover, GSK3β inhibition provided beneficial effects on memory improvement in multiple animal models of AD. The present review aimed to update the most recent reports on the discovery of novel multifunctional ligands with GSK3β inhibitory activity as potential drugs for the symptomatic and disease-modifying therapy of AD. Compounds with GSK3β inhibitory activity seem to be an effective pharmacological approach for treating the causes and symptoms of AD as they reduced neuroinflammation and pathological hallmarks in animal models of AD and provided relief from cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms. These compounds have the potential to be used as drugs for the treatment of AD, but their precise pharmacological, pharmacokinetic, toxicological and clinical profiles need to be defined., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive impairments such as memory loss, decline in language skills, and disorientation that affects over 46 million people worldwide. Patients with AD also suffer from behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia that deteriorate their quality of life and lead to premature death. Currently available drugs provide modest symptomatic relief but do not reduce pathological hallmarks (senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles) and neuroinflammation, both of which are integral parts of dementia. A large body of evidence indicates that impaired signaling pathways of cyclic-3',5'- Adenosine Monophosphate (cAMP) and cyclic-3',5'-guanosine Monophosphate (cGMP) may contribute to the development and progression of AD. In addition, Phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors, commonly known as cAMP and/or cGMP modulators, were found to be involved in the phosphorylation of tau; aggregation of amyloid beta; neuroinflammation; and regulation of cognition, mood, and emotion processing. The purpose of this review was to update the most recent reports on the development of novel multifunctional ligands targeting PDE as potential drugs for both symptomatic and disease-modifying therapy of AD. This review collected the chemical structures of representative multifunctional ligands, results of experimental in vitro and in vivo pharmacological studies, and current opinions regarding the potential utility of these compounds for the comprehensive therapy of AD. Finally, the multiparameter predictions of drugability of the representative compounds were calculated and discussed., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a chronic and progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects over 46 million people worldwide. It is characterized by a decline in cognitive abilities, including memory and thinking skills. AD patients also suffer from behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia of which depression is the most prevalent. Currently available drugs provide modest symptomatic relief and do not reduce pathological hallmarks (senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles) and neuroinflammation, both of which are integral parts of AD. Studies suggest that AD is a type of diabetes manifested in the brain. Although AD and diabetes are currently classified as separate disease entities, they share common pathophysiological mechanisms, one of them is an increased level of cytokines involved in the inflammation and the regulation of metabolic, regenerative, and neural processes. The purpose of this review was to update the most recent reports on the discovery and development of antidiabetic agents as promising drugs for the symptomatic and diseasemodifying treatment of AD. We collected the results of in vitro and in vivo studies, and recent reports from clinical trials suggesting the utility of antidiabetic agents in memory-enhancing therapy of AD. Their beneficial effects on chronic neuroinflammation, pathological hallmarks, and neuropsychiatric symptoms co-occurring with cognitive deficits are also presented. Antidiabetic agents refer to the diabetic and inflammatory hypotheses of AD and provide hope to find an effective drug for comprehensive therapy of the disease., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric disorder that affects about 1 in 100 people around the world and results in persistent emotional and cognitive impairments. Untreated schizophrenia leads to deterioration in quality of life and premature death. Although the clinical efficacy of dopamine D2 receptor antagonists against positive symptoms of schizophrenia supports the dopamine hypothesis of the disease, the resistance of negative and cognitive symptoms to these drugs implicates other systems in its pathophysiology. Many studies suggest that abnormalities in glutamate homeostasis may contribute to all three groups of schizophrenia symptoms. Scientific considerations also include disorders of gamma-aminobutyric acid-ergic and serotonergic neurotransmissions as well as the role of the immune system. The purpose of this review is to update the most recent reports on the discovery and development of non-dopaminergic agents that may reduce positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia, and may be alternative to currently used antipsychotics. This review collects the chemical structures of representative compounds targeting metabotropic glutamate receptor, gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor, alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, glycine transporter type 1 and glycogen synthase kinase 3 as well as results of in vitro and in vivo studies indicating their efficacy in schizophrenia. Results of clinical trials assessing the safety and efficacy of the tested compounds have also been presented. Finally, attention has been paid to multifunctional ligands with serotonin receptor affinity or phosphodiesterase inhibitory activity as novel strategies in the search for dedicated medicines for patients with schizophrenia., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive cognitive impairments and chronic inflammation that affects over 30 million people all over the world. Most of the Alzheimer's patients also suffer from psychosis, aggression, agitation, depression, anxiety, and many other behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. Unfortunately, the currently available anti-AD drugs provide modest symptomatic relief, and they do not reverse the neurodegeneration. Therefore, the average life expectancy after diagnosis is between six and ten years. Research data suggest that multi-target-directed ligands (MTDLs) give an opportunity to prevent, halt, or reverse the progression of AD, and reduce the symptoms of the disease. The aim of this review is to update the most recent reports on the development of MTDLs affecting serotonergic neurotransmission as potential drugs for both symptomatic and disease-modifying therapy of AD. Multifunctional modulators of serotonergic system exerted procognitive, antipsychotic, antidepressant, and/or anxiolytic properties in preclinical studies. Some of them revealed their potential as modulators of tau phosphorylation or amyloid beta aggregation with neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, and/or antioxidant properties. Among them, lumateperone - an inhibitor of serotonin transporter with a high affinity for serotonergic and dopaminergic receptors is currently being tested in clinical trials in patients with dementia, bipolar depression, or schizophrenia. The high therapeutic potential of MTDLs as anti-AD drugs seems to be the result of their involvement in multiple neurotransmitter systems and intracellular signaling pathways., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.)

Phosphodiesterase 7 (PDE7) is an intracellular enzyme that specifically hydrolyzes the second messenger, cyclic-3',5'-adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), into inactive noncyclic nucleotide, 5'-AMP. To date, many structurally diverse compounds with PDE7 inhibitory properties have been described, including selective PDE7 inhibitors, dual PDE4/PDE7, PDE7/PDE8, and PDE7/GSK-3 inhibitors, and non-selective PDE inhibitors with high affinity for PDE7. Inhibitors of PDE7 have provided beneficial effects in animal models of inflammatory and neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and many others. This review is a comprehensive summary of the current state-of-the-art in the field of design and synthesis of PDE7 inhibitors, their physicochemical properties, biological evaluation, and structure-activity relationships as well as it highlights the updated evidence for a potential therapeutic utility of these compounds. Moreover, new approaches to obtain more effective and safer PDE7 inhibitors than those available now are presented., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.)