Trial lecture - time and place
14.12.2022, 10.15, Auditorium 1, Helga Eng
Important aspects of preclinical drug development
Conferral summary
Studiene presentert i avhandlingen undersøkte hvordan man kan bruke nevroutviklingsmodeller for farmakologisk vurdering av nevroaktive legemidler. Ved å bruke kyllingembryo, lillehjernen, neuronkulturer fra lillehjernen og relevante humane nevroncellelinjer, analyserte vi potensielle effekter av legemidler i molekylære og cellulære sammenhenger.
Main research findings
Nowadays, more people become predisposed to different brain-related illnesses, such as epilepsy or depression. Many of the patients are women who might think about having a child one day. Exposure to neuroactive pharmaceuticals during pregnancy has been linked to a number of neurologic, psychiatric, and behavioral deviations such as autism and ADHD in childhood and adolescence. Unfortunately, clinical trials actively exclude or under-represent pregnant patients and volunteers.
The brain rapidly develops during pregnancy and after birth, which makes it particularly vulnerable to environmental insults, such as exposure to neuroactive medications. Although epidemiological data reveal associations between neurodevelopmental deviations and neuroactive pharmaceuticals taken by the pregnant woman, data are frequently lacking and do not cover mechanisms. Therefore, fundamental studies in juvenile animals and cell cultures relevant to neurodevelopment are needed.
The work aimed to establish models of neurodevelopment to study actions of neuroactive pharmaceuticals. The project addressed adverse effects that pharmaceuticals commonly used by pregnant women, including antiepileptic, antidepressant, and analgesic drugs, may have on neuronal development at cellular and molecular levels. Based on the results obtained through this work, it is still too early to conclude about the safety of medications in clinical practice, but the study may be a starting point for hypotheses in epidemiological research on drug safety and guidelines for drug use in pregnant women.