Neuropharmacology of Organoselenium Compounds in Mental Disorders and Degenerative Diseases

Abstract: Neurodegenerative and mental disorders are a public health burden with pharma-cological treatments of limited efficacy. Organoselenium compounds are receiving great at-tention in medicinal chemistry mainly because of their antioxidant and immunomodulatory activities, with a multi-target profile that can favor the treatment of multifactorial diseases. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to discuss recent preclinical studies about orga-noselenium compounds as therapeutic agents for the management of mental (e.g., depres-sion, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia) and neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclero-sis). We have summarized around 70 peer-reviewed articles from 2016 to the present that used in silico, in vitro, and/or in vivo approaches to assess the neuropharmacology of seleni-um-containing compounds. Among the diversity of organoselenium molecules investigated in the last five years, diaryl diselenides, Ebselen-derivatives, and Se-containing heterocycles are the most representative. Ultimately, this review is expected to provide disease-oriented information regarding the neuropharmacology of organoselenium compounds that can be useful for the design, synthesis, and pharmacological characterization of novel bioactive molecules that can potentially be clinically viable candidates.