The role of the metals copper, zinc, magnesium, lead, manganese, mercury, lithium and aluminium in neuropsychiatric disease are well known and has been discussed on several occasions. Yet little attention has been paid to iron, the most abundant transitional metal in the body and the earth's crust. Iron plays a major role as a cofactor of numerous metabolic enzymes, it is important for DNA and protein synthesis, and has a crucial role in the oxygen carrying capacity of haemoglobin. Some of the most devastating diseases of systemic organs are associated with abnormal iron metabolism. Yet only...

Monoamine oxidase plays a major role in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders including depressive illness, Parkinsons disease and Alzheimers disease. The new generation of selective monoamine oxidase inhibitors, devoid of major side effects, has found a prominent place in the treatment of these diseases. Some of these drugs may have neuroprotective activity with prospects for treating progressive neurodegenerative diseases. The volume presents a collection of research papers on monoamine oxidase and its inhibitors. The topic is treated from the point of view of chemistry,...

Neurodegeneration is one of the most important subjects of the investigation now and in the coming 21st century. Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly people and Parkinson's disease is one of the major neurologic disorders with the prevalence between 1 and 2/1 000 population in advanced countries. Many others are suffering from intractable neurodegener ative disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington's disease, or spinocerebellar degeneration. No truly effective treatment is available for any of these neurodegenerative disorders except for...