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Neurotransmitter Systems: Dopamine

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The Therapeutic Use of N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) in Medicine

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Abstract

Dopamine is a major catecholamine neurotransmitter that acts both inside and outside the central nervous system. It has been implicated in many psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases. Oxidation of dopamine by endogenous or exogenous factors creates toxic metabolites that can result in cytotoxicity, apoptosis, and mitochondrial dysfunction. N-Acetylcysteine (NAC), a glutathione precursor and antioxidant, has been studied as an agent to protect cells and animal models against the potential toxic effects of dopamine and its metabolites. This chapter systematically reviews the literature to summarize such studies. Overall NAC has been studied in relation to dopamine in cellular and animal models of disease that affects the central nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, ischemic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and substance use disorders as well as cellular and animal models of nonnervous system diseases such as vitiligo, renal disease, and pituitary tumors. Studies have also examined the effect of NAC in protecting the brain from alterations in dopamine metabolism by the toxicants tungstate and polychlorinated biphenyls. The studies reviewed demonstrate that NAC can prevent and/or reverse many of the toxic effects of dopamine mediated by oxidative stress. NAC also reversed changes in dopamine levels induced by behavioral manipulations such as social isolation rearing in animal models of schizophrenia. The protective effects of NAC were mediated by its action as an antioxidant as well as a glutathione precursor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Child & Adolescent and Addiction Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

    Nihit Kumar

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  1. Nihit Kumar
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Correspondence to Nihit Kumar .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, University of Arizona, College of Medicine – Phoenix, Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Richard Eugene Frye

  2. IMPACT SRC, Deakin University & Barwon Health, Geelong, VIC, Australia

    Michael Berk

1 Electronic Supplementary Material

Online Table 3.1

Summary of systematic literature review examining the association between dopamine and NAC (DOCX 23 kb)

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Kumar, N. (2019). Neurotransmitter Systems: Dopamine. In: Frye, R., Berk, M. (eds) The Therapeutic Use of N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) in Medicine. Adis, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5311-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5311-5_3

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  • Publisher Name: Adis, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-5310-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-5311-5

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