Neuropharmacology of the Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Dementia and Role of Pain: Essential Oil of Bergamot as a Novel Therapeutic Approach

Scuteri, Damiana; Rombolà, Laura; Morrone, Luigi Antonio; Bagetta, Giacinto; Sakurada, Shinobu; Sakurada, Tsukasa; Tonin, Paolo; Corasaniti, Maria Tiziana

doi:10.3390/ijms20133327

Open AccessReview

Neuropharmacology of the Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Dementia and Role of Pain: Essential Oil of Bergamot as a Novel Therapeutic Approach

by

Damiana Scuteri

¹

,

Laura Rombolà

¹

,

Luigi Antonio Morrone

¹,

Giacinto Bagetta

^1,*

,

Shinobu Sakurada

²,

Tsukasa Sakurada

³,

Paolo Tonin

⁴

and

Maria Tiziana Corasaniti

⁵

¹

Preclinical and Translational Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacy, Health Science and Nutrition, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy

²

Department of Physiology and Anatomy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University, 4-4-1 Komatsushima, Aoba-ku, Sendai 981-8558, Japan

³

Daiichi College of Pharmaceutical Sciences—First Department of Pharmacology Fukuoka, Fukuoka 815-8511, Japan

⁴

Regional Center for Serious Brain Injuries, S. Anna Institute, 88900 Crotone, Italy

⁵

Department of Health Sciences, University “Magna Graecia” of Catanzaro, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(13), 3327; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20133327

Submission received: 10 June 2019 / Revised: 24 June 2019 / Accepted: 5 July 2019 / Published: 6 July 2019

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Development of Novel Drugs for Alzheimer's Disease and Myasthenia Gravis)

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Abstract

Aging of the population makes of dementia a challenge for health systems worldwide. The cognitive disturbance is a serious but not the only issue in dementia; behavioral and psychological syndromes known as neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia remarkably reduce the quality of life. The cluster of symptoms includes anxiety, depression, wandering, delusions, hallucinations, misidentifications, agitation and aggression. The pathophysiology of these symptoms implicates all the neurotransmitter systems, with a pivotal role for the glutamatergic neurotransmission. Imbalanced glutamatergic and GABAergic neurotransmissions, over-activation of the extrasynaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors and alterations of the latter have been linked to the development of neuropsychiatric symptoms experienced by almost the entire demented population. Drugs with efficacy and safety for prevention or long term treatment of these disorders are not available yet. Aromatherapy provides the best evidence for positive outcomes in the control of agitation, the most resistant symptom. Demented patients often cannot verbalize pain, resulting in unrelieved symptoms and contributing to agitation. Bergamot essential oil provides extensive preclinical evidence of analgesic properties. Incidentally, the essential oil of bergamot induces anxyolitic-like effects devoid of sedation, typical of benzodiazepines, with a noteworthy advantage for demented patients. These data, together with the reported safety profile, form the rational basis for bergamot as a neurotherapeutic to be trialed for the control of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Keywords: dementia; behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia; neuropsychiatric symptoms; aromatherapy; bergamot essential oil

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MDPI and ACS Style

Scuteri, D.; Rombolà, L.; Morrone, L.A.; Bagetta, G.; Sakurada, S.; Sakurada, T.; Tonin, P.; Corasaniti, M.T. Neuropharmacology of the Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Dementia and Role of Pain: Essential Oil of Bergamot as a Novel Therapeutic Approach. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20, 3327. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20133327

AMA Style

Scuteri D, Rombolà L, Morrone LA, Bagetta G, Sakurada S, Sakurada T, Tonin P, Corasaniti MT. Neuropharmacology of the Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Dementia and Role of Pain: Essential Oil of Bergamot as a Novel Therapeutic Approach. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2019; 20(13):3327. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20133327

Chicago/Turabian Style

Scuteri, Damiana, Laura Rombolà, Luigi Antonio Morrone, Giacinto Bagetta, Shinobu Sakurada, Tsukasa Sakurada, Paolo Tonin, and Maria Tiziana Corasaniti. 2019. "Neuropharmacology of the Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Dementia and Role of Pain: Essential Oil of Bergamot as a Novel Therapeutic Approach" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 20, no. 13: 3327. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20133327

APA Style

Scuteri, D., Rombolà, L., Morrone, L. A., Bagetta, G., Sakurada, S., Sakurada, T., Tonin, P., & Corasaniti, M. T. (2019). Neuropharmacology of the Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Dementia and Role of Pain: Essential Oil of Bergamot as a Novel Therapeutic Approach. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20(13), 3327. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20133327

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Neuropharmacology of the Neuropsychiatric Symptoms of Dementia and Role of Pain: Essential Oil of Bergamot as a Novel Therapeutic Approach

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