Opiates are the most effective drugs for pain relief. However, the repeated use of opiates induces tolerance to their analgesic effects. It has been shown that this morphine-induced tolerance is associated with apoptosis in the central nervous system. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of riluzole, an anti-glutamatergic drug, on m...

PURPOSE Melanoma is a heterogeneous disease where monotherapies are likely to fail due to variations in genomic signatures. B-RAF inhibitors have been clinically inadequate but response might be augmented with combination therapies targeting multiple signaling pathways. We investigate the preclinical efficacy of combining the multikinase inhibitor sorafenib or the mutated B-RAF inhibitor PLX472...

OBJECTIVE Intra-peritoneal administration of riluzole has been shown to preserve the membrane properties and firing characteristics of Purkinje neurons in a rat model of cerebellar ataxia induced by 3-acetylpyridine (3-AP). However, the exact mechanism(s) by which riluzole restores the normal electrophysiological properties of Purkinje neurons is not completely understood. Changes in the conduc...

Selective motoneurons (MNs) degeneration in the brain stem, hypoglossal motoneurons (HMNs), and the spinal cord resulting in patients paralysis and eventual death are prominent features of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Previous studies have suggested that mitochondrial respiratory impairment, low Ca2+ buffering and homeostasis and excitotoxicity are the pathological phenotypes found in m...

background and objective: alzheimer’s disease (ad) is a neurodegenerative disorder specified by deposition of b-amyloid (ab) and neuronal loss that leads to learning and memory disturbances. one of the most important causes of ad is glutamate-dependent excitotoxicity in brain regions that is vulnerable to ad. according to previous reported results, it was revealed that riluzole, as a glutamate ...

Objective Riluzole is the first drug approved to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Recently, an oral suspension (OS) of riluzole was made available. Thus, the aim of our study was to evaluate the adherence to 2 formulations of riluzole in patients with ALS. Patients and methods We enrolled 45 consecutive patients with ALS. At disease diagnosis, riluzole was prescribed in 2 different ...

OBJECTIVES We evaluated the effect of riluzole versus placebo added to weekly IM interferon beta-1a in early multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS This is a randomized (1:1), double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of riluzole 50 mg twice daily in subjects with MS onset less than 1 year prior. Trial participation was up to 3 years. The primary endpoint was change in percent brain volume change. Sec...

BACKGROUND The pleiotropic effects of riluzole may antagonize common mechanisms underlying chronic cerebellar ataxia, a debilitating and untreatable consequence of various diseases. METHODS In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot trial, 40 patients presenting with cerebellar ataxias of different etiologies were randomly assigned to riluzole (100 mg/day) or placebo for 8 weeks....

Osteosarcomas are malignant tumors of bone, most commonly seen in children and adolescents. Despite advances in modern medicine, the poor survival rate of metastatic osteosarcoma has not improved in two decades. In the present study we have investigated the effect of Riluzole on a human and mouse metastatic osteosarcoma cells. We show that LM7 cells secrete glutamate in the media and that mGluR...

INTRODUCTION Excessive olivo-cerebellar burst-firing occurs during harmaline-induced tremor. We hypothesized that antiglutamatergic agents would suppress harmaline tremor. From this point of view, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of riluzole on harmaline-induced tremor in rat. METHODS Four groups of Wistar rats weighing 80-100 g were injected with harmaline (30 mg/ ...