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The primary objective of this 4-volume book series is to educate PharmD students on the subject of medicinal chemistry. The book set serves as a reference guide to pharmacists on aspects of the chemical basis of drug action. Medicinal Chemistry of Drugs Affecting the Nervous System is the second volume of the series and it presents 8 chapters focusing on a comprehensive account of drugs affecting the nervous system. The volume informs readers about the medicinal chemistry of relevant drugs, which includes the mechanism of drug action, detail structure activity relationships and metabolism as well as clinical significance of drugs affecting autonomic and central nervous system. Chapters in this volume cover cholinergic drugs, adrenergic drugs, antipsychotics, antidepressants, sedatives, hypnotics, anxiolytics, antiepileptic drugs, anesthetics and antiparkinsonian drugs, respectively. Students and teachers will be able to integrate the knowledge presented in the book and apply medicinal chemistry concepts to understand the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of therapeutic agents in the body. The information offered by the book chapters will give readers a strong neuropharmacology knowledge base required for a practicing pharmacist.

Nervous System Drug Delivery: Principles and Practice helps users understand the nervous system physiology affecting drug delivery, the principles that underlie various drug delivery methods, and the appropriate application of drug delivery methods for drug- and disease-specific treatments. Researchers developing nervous system putative therapeutic agents will use this book to optimize drug delivery during preclinical assessment and to prepare for regulatory advancement of new agents. Clinicians will gain direct insights into pathophysiologic alterations that impact drug delivery and students and trainees will find this a critical resource for understanding and applying nervous system drug delivery techniques. Offers an up-to-date, comprehensive resource on drug delivery to the nervous system Provides a bridge for understanding across nervous system delivery-related physiology, drug delivery principles. and the methodologies that underlie the various methods of drug distribution (with clinical application) Written for a broad audience of researchers, clinicians and advanced graduate students in neuroscience, neurology, neurosurgery, pharmacology, radiology and psychiatry

The history of ecstasy, its discovery and use and social implications.

The variety of viewpoints expressed in this book illustrate the many contro­ versies surrounding MDMA [1]. On the one hand, the proponents ofMDMA use believe this agent offers a unique psychoactive effect that may have important clinical applications, especially in the field of psychotherapy. On the other hand, the scientific data concerning the neurotoxic effects of the drug are unequivocal. The most striking feature of the human information of MDMA is the paucity of data that has been generated on the drug since it was patented in 1914. As pointed out by Beck (Chapter 6) and others, a clear need exists for better epidemiological and clinical data on MDMA. In the absence of such data, arguments both for and against the cotinued use ofMDMA with humans will be difficult to support. Unfortunately, the currently available data must be used to develop rational policies for potential human users of MDMA. At the present time, there are no data indicating that recreational doses of MDMA permanently damage the human brain. Nonetheless, based on a review of the contents of this book as well as on informal discussions with approximately 200 recreational users of MDMA, the following personal observations suggest that MDMA is radically different from other recreational drugs.

The analysis of drugs and their metabolites in biological media are now expected to routinely achieve � 20% accuracy in the ng/mL concentration level. Therefore, the availability and the selection of quality ion-pairs designating the analytes and their isotopically labeled analogs (ILAs) are important considerations in achieving the accuracy of qua

Pharmacology of Central Synapses deals with the pharmacology of the central nervous system and the mode of action of neurotropic drugs based on their influence on synaptic transmission. The neuronal structure of the nervous system, the structure of the synapses, and the phenomena of electrochemical transmission are discussed in this context. The main propositions of the synaptic theory of the action of neurotropic drugs, based on morphological, physiological, and biochemical findings, form the conceptual basis of this book. Comprised of eight chapters, this book examines the effect of neurotropic drugs on the synaptic transmission in reflex, projection, and association (commissural) tracts. The specific effects of various narcotics, neuroleptics, tranquillizers, analgesics, antidepressants, and stimulants on synaptic transmission in various structures of the central nervous system and at its different levels are described. This text also considers the differences in the sensitivity to such drugs of various synapses and their influence on the selectivity of drug action. This book explains the influence of neurotropic drugs on such aspects of nervous activity as impulse summation, after-discharge and functional lability, central inhibition, and the neurochemical mechanisms, particularly those involving monoaminergic, cholinergic, serotoninergic, and GABA-ergic components of synaptic transmission. The final chapter focuses on the effect of psychotropic drugs on behavior. This book will be helpful to scientists representing all the major areas of pharmacology, including clinical pharmacology and toxicology, as well as to internists, psychiatrists, neurologists, and anesthesiologists.