Login Register Cart 0
Generic placeholder image

Current Medicinal Chemistry

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 0929-8673
ISSN (Online): 1875-533X

Back
Journal Home About Journal Editorial Board Journal Insight Current Issue Volumes/Issues
Subscribe
Editorial

Neurosteroids and their Therapeutic Potential: Remembering the Contribution of Dr. Sabina Luchetti, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Author(s): Flavia di Michele*

Volume 31, Issue 20, 2024

Published on: 13 December, 2023

Page: [2895 - 2899] Pages: 5

DOI: 10.2174/0109298673270157231120072205

Price: $65

Abstract

This article traces the career of Dr. Sabina Luchetti (1969–2021), a noted physician (medical doctor, specialized in Neurology at Tor Vergata University of Rome, Italy), a dedicated neuroscientist (Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Tor Vergata University and IRCCS Santa Lucia of Rome), and a member of a renowned Netherlands group (senior researcher at Professor Swaab Laboratory of the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, Netherlands), working in the field of brain function and diseases. She is particularly involved in the study of natural compounds, such as neurosteroids and their biosynthetic pathways in neurodegenerative and neuroinflammation- related disorders, working on post-mortem human brains.

This editorial outlines Dr. Luchetti's wide range of interests, discloses her superior fund of knowledge, and recollects her humanitarian spirit, all of which contribute to creating a great sense of belonging to any group of researchers whom she worked with. The impact of Dr. Luchetti's work will continue to be felt for many years.

From the bench to the bedside, her work has indirectly contributed to shedding light on the neurosteroids’ potential therapeutic effects, considering that neurosteroids and their analogues (some of which are over-the-counter) are now used to treat depression, epilepsy, and substance abuse disorders. Moreover, the potential therapeutic effects of allopregnanolone with respect to its capability to promote neuroregeneration and neuroprotection are a promising basis for future treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

« Previous Next »
[1]
Baulieu, É.É. Neurosteroids: A new function in the brain. Biol. Cell, 1991, 71(1-2), 3-10.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0248-4900(91)90045-O] [PMID: 1912947]
[2]
Luchetti, S.; Huitinga, I.; Swaab, D.F. Neurosteroid and GABA-A receptor alterations in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis. Neuroscience, 2011, 191, 6-21.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.04.010] [PMID: 21514366]
[3]
Uzunova, V.; Sheline, Y.; Davis, J.M.; Rasmusson, A.; Uzunov, D.P.; Costa, E.; Guidotti, A. Increase in the cerebrospinal fluid content of neurosteroids in patients with unipolar major depression who are receiving fluoxetine or fluvoxamine. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 1998, 95(6), 3239-3244.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.95.6.3239] [PMID: 9501247]
[4]
Wang, J.M.; Singh, C.; Liu, L.; Irwin, R.W.; Chen, S.; Chung, E.J.; Thompson, R.F.; Brinton, R.D. Allopregnanolone reverses neurogenic and cognitive deficits in mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 2010, 107(14), 6498-6503.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1001422107] [PMID: 20231471]
[5]
Qi, X.R.; Luchetti, S.; Verwer, R.W.H.; Sluiter, A.A.; Mason, M.R.J.; Zhou, J.N.; Swaab, D.F. Alterations in the steroid biosynthetic pathways in the human prefrontal cortex in mood disorders: A post-mortem study. Brain Pathol., 2018, 28(4), 536-547.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bpa.12548] [PMID: 28752602]
[6]
Qi, X.R.; Zhao, J.; Liu, J.; Fang, H.; Swaab, D.F.; Zhou, J.N. Abnormal retinoid and TrkB signaling in the prefrontal cortex in mood disorders. Cereb. Cortex, 2015, 25(1), 75-83.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bht203] [PMID: 23960204]
[7]
Luchetti, S.; Bossers, K.; Van de Bilt, S.; Agrapart, V.; Morales, R.R.; Frajese, G.V.; Swaab, D.F. Neurosteroid biosynthetic pathways changes in prefrontal cortex in Alzheimer’s disease. Neurobiol. Aging, 2011, 32(11), 1964-1976.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2009.12.014] [PMID: 20045216]
[8]
Luchetti, S.; van Eden, C.G.; Schuurman, K.; van Strien, M.E.; Swaab, D.F.; Huitinga, I. Gender differences in multiple sclerosis: Induction of estrogen signaling in male and progesterone signaling in female lesions. J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol., 2014, 73(2), 123-135.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/NEN.0000000000000037] [PMID: 24423637]
[9]
Luchetti, S.; Fransen, N.L.; van Eden, C.G.; Ramaglia, V.; Mason, M.; Huitinga, I. Progressive multiple sclerosis patients show substantial lesion activity that correlates with clinical disease severity and sex: A retrospective autopsy cohort analysis. Acta Neuropathol., 2018, 135(4), 511-528.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00401-018-1818-y] [PMID: 29441412]
[10]
Luchetti, S.; Bossers, K.; Frajese, G.V.; Swaab, D.F. Neurosteroid biosynthetic pathway changes in substantia nigra and caudate nucleus in Parkinson’s disease. Brain Pathol., 2010, 20(5), 945-951.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1750-3639.2010.00396.x] [PMID: 20406233]
[11]
Luchetti, S.; Liere, P.; Pianos, A.; Verwer, R.W.H.; Sluiter, A.; Huitinga, I.; Schumacher, M.; Swaab, D.F.; Mason, M.R.J. Disease stage-dependent changes in brain levels and neuroprotective effects of neuroactive steroids in Parkinson’s disease. Neurobiol. Dis., 2023, 183, 106169.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2023.106169] [PMID: 37257664]
[12]
Fang, Q.; Xicoy, H.; Shen, J.; Luchetti, S.; Dai, D.; Zhou, P.; Qi, X.R.; Martens, G.J.M.; Huitinga, I.; Swaab, D.F.; Liu, C.; Shan, L. Histamine-4 receptor antagonist ameliorates Parkinson-like pathology in the striatum. Brain Behav. Immun., 2021, 92, 127-138.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.11.036] [PMID: 33249171]
[13]
Zhao, J.; Bao, A.M.; Qi, X.R.; Kamphuis, W.; Luchetti, S.; Lou, J.S.; Swaab, D.F. Gene expression of GABA and glutamate pathway markers in the prefrontal cortex of non-suicidal elderly depressed patients. J. Affect. Disord., 2012, 138(3), 494-502.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.01.013] [PMID: 22357337]
[14]
Luchetti, S.; di Michele, F.; Romeo, E.; Brusa, L.; Bernardi, G.; Cummings, B.J.; Longone, P. Comparative non-radioactive RT-PCR assay: An approach to study the neurosteroids biosynthetic pathway in humans. J. Neurosci. Methods, 2006, 153(2), 290-298.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2005.11.005] [PMID: 16378642]
[15]
Qi, X.R.; Verwer, R.W.H.; Bao, A.M.; Balesar, R.A.; Luchetti, S.; Zhou, J.N.; Swaab, D.F. Human brain slice culture: A useful tool to study brain disorders and potential therapeutic compounds. Neurosci. Bull., 2019, 35(2), 244-252.
[http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12264-018-0328-1] [PMID: 30604279]

Rights & Permissions Print Cite
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy