N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Antagonists: A Novel Therapeutic Perspective for the Treatment of Ischemic Brain Injury

Abstract

Considerable experimental evidence suggests that excessive stimulation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subclass of glutamate receptors plays a pivotal role in initiating biochemical processes that lead to neuronal death during cerebral ischemia. Several NMDA receptor antagonists acting at the various sites within the NMDA receptor complex effectively attenuate the neuropathological consequences of brain ischemia in a wide variety of experimental models even when given after the ischemic insult. A number of new NMDA antagonists are currently in preclinical development and a few agents are in the early phases of clinical trials. The present review examines the case for this new. therapeutic perspective.