| abstract |
The present invention discloses a method for therapeutically treating an animal, including a human, for psychosomatic, depressive and neuropsychiatric diseases, such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, schizophrenia, epilepsy, spasm and chronic pain. Administration of a suitable DP IV inhibitor leads as a causal consequence to a reduced degradation of the neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the brain of mammals. Such treatment will result in a reduction or delay in the decrease of the concentration of functionally active neuronal NPY (1-36). As a consequence of the resulting enhanced stability of the endogenous NPY (1-36), NPY activity is prolonged thereby resulting among other things in functionally active NPY YI receptor activity thereby facilitating antidepressive, anxiolytic, analgesic, antihypertension and other neurological effects. |