Melatonin, Neuroprotective Agents and Antidepressant Therapy

Prof.Venkataramanujan Srinivasan,Msc, Ph.D MAMS SRI SATHYA SAI MEDICAL EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH FOUNDATION An International Medical Sciences Research Study Center“PrasanthiNilayam”, KOVAI, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, INDIA

• History of pineal gland as neuroendocrine organ and discovery of melatonin.- Bibliometric study of scientific research on melatonin during the last 25 years.- Neuroimaging of the pineal gland. Focus on Primary Insomnia.- Melatonin: Basic and clinical aspects.- Melatonin and melatonin receptors in neuroprotection.- Melatonin supplementation in neurodegenerative diseases: Current status.- Therapeutic potential of melatonin in combination with other drugs against neurodegeneration.- Melatonin, a neuroprotective agent: relevance for stress induced neuropsychiatric disorders.- Melatonin, sleep,circadian rhythm and mood disorders.- Melatonin induces antidepressant-likebehavior by promotion of hippocampal neurogenesis.- Association betweenmelatonin and neuroimmune diseases.- Melatonin in clinical states of patientswith fibromyalgia syndrome.- Melatonin’s beneficial effects in hepaticinjury.- Melatonin as a novel therapeutic agent against chemical warfareagents.- New galenic formulations of melatonin.- Melatonergic drug ramelteon in neurotherapeutics.- Melatonergic antidepressant agomelatine and its efficacy in depressive disorders.- Agomelatine, melatonin anddepression.- Neuropsychological models of depression.- Chronobiology of mooddisorders.- Bipolar disorders and biological rhythm.- Circadian clock genes and mood disorders.- Understanding the biologically adaptive side of mood disorders: a focus on affective temperaments.- Sleep abnormalities as diagnostic tool for major depressive disorder.- Depression: Correlations with thyroid hormones in major depressive disorder.- History of the discovery of antidepressant drugs.- Neurocognitive deficit in bipolar disorders.- Combination strategies in treatment-resistant depression.- Antidepressant drugs in elderly.- Antidepressant efficacy of escitalopram in major depressive disorder.- Antidepressant medications and suicide risk: What was the impact of FDA warning?.- Neurobiology and pharmacological prevention of suicidein mood disorders.- Antidepressants and anticonvulsants as adjuvant analgesics in chronic pain.- Genetic polymorphisms of cytochrome P450 enzymes and antidepressants.- Pharmacogenomics of antidepressant drugs.- Antidepressants modulate microglia beyond the neurotransmitters doctrine of mood disorders.- Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) - TrkB signaling in depression: Biomarker and novel therapeutic target.- Targeting opioid receptors for innovative antidepressant therapies: rediscovering the opioid cure.- Prolactin and somatostatin responses to antidepressant therapy.- The role of vasopressin in anxiety and depression.- Ketamine: the glutamatergic antidepressant and itsefficacy.- Acetylcholinergic nicotinic receptors as pharmacological targets for cognitive enhancement: emerging evidence from psychosis populations.-The glutamate mGluR5 receptor as a pharmacological target to enhance cognitive function: emerging evidence from psychosis models.- Corticotropin-releasing factor receptors as a potential target in the developments of antidepressant drugs.- Nitric oxide signaling in depression and antidepressant action.- The role of arrestins in the neuroprotective aspects of antidepressant drugs.- Antidepressant drugs and phosphodiesterases.- Effect of methylphenidate and atomoxetine on development of the brain.- S-Adenosyl-L-methionine for major depressive disorder.- The role of antiepileptic drugs in bipolar depression.- Melatonin and other neuroprotective agents target molecular mechanisms of disease in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis