title: Drug therapy of frontotemporal dementia.
abstract: Frontal lobe dementia, or more generally frontotemporal dementia (FTD), includes several clinical entities and, although highly prevalent, lacks any codified therapeutic strategy. The present review is an attempt to depict the main neurochemical correlates of FTD and, as a consequence, to propose the most sound targets for symptomatic drugs. Large scale double-blind controlled clinical trials should be carried out to test any hypothesis: serotonergic agents, glutamate neurotransmission enhancers, monoamine oxidase inhibitors. The recent discovery of tau gene mutations in FTD with Parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 has reinforced the direct role attributed to abnormal tau proteins (hyperphosphorylation) and thus raised the possibility to target specifically these processes by drugs (aetiopathogenic compounds).
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology Faculty of Medicine, University of Rennes I, 2, avenue du Pr. Léon Bernard, CS 34317, F-35043 Rennes cedex, France. Herve.Allain@univ-rennes1.fr
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Allain
authors.forename: Danièle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bentué-Ferrer
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tribut
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mérienne
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Belliard
mesh_terms: D002886:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17 / Q000235:genetics; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D018849:Controlled Clinical Trials as Topic; D003704:Dementia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D024801:Tauopathies / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs; D016875:tau Proteins