Pharmacological stimulation of GAL1R but not GAL2R attenuates kainic acid-induced neuronal cell death in the rat hippocampus.

The neuropeptide galanin is widely distributed in the central and peripheral nervous systems and part of a bigger family of bioactive peptides. Galanin exerts its biological activity through three G-protein coupled receptor subtypes, GAL1-3R. Throughout the last 20years, data has accumulated that galanin can have a neuroprotective effect presumably mediated through the activation of GAL1R and GAL2R.