The University of Tokyo

School Corporation, Azabu Veterinary Medicine Educational Institution

Toudai Tlo, Ltd.

Kunio Shiota

Shintaro Yagi

Takefumi Kikusui

Koji Hayakawa

Masayoshi Kuwahara

Keiji Hirabayashi

Daisuke Arai

Yukishige Ito

Satoshi Tanaka

Soshi Yamamoto

Mitsuko Hirosawa-Takamori

Naoko Hattori

Hideharu Seto

Yasuharu Sakamoto

Mitsuko Takamori

Jun Ohgane

Koichiro Nishino

Naka Hattori

The invention provides an agent for treating depression, which contains N-acetyl-D-mannosamine, and a pharmaceutical composition for treating depression, which contains an effective amount of N-acetyl-D-mannosamine and a carrier acceptable as a medicament.

Depression treatment agent

The invention provides a method for producing an orexin neuron by culturing a pluripotent stem cell or a neural progenitor cell in the presence of N-acetyl-D-mannosamine and optionally in the presence of at least one inhibitor selected from the group consisting of a Sirtuin 1 inhibitor and an O-linked &#x3b2;-N-acetylglucosamine transferase inhibitor. The invention also provides a therapeutic agent for narcolepsy or eating disorders, such as anorexia, containing N-acetyl-D-mannosamine, which is based on the induction of orexin neuron in vivo.

Methods for inducing orexin neurons and agent for treating narcolepsy or eating disorder

Provided are effective and highly safe agents, medicaments and the like for ameliorating various disorders caused by brain hypofunction. Also provided is a preventing or ameliorating agent for brain hypofunction containing N-acetyl-D-mannosamine, a pharmaceutical composition for preventing, ameliorating or treating disorders due to brain hypofunction, containing an effective amount of N-acetyl-D-mannosamine and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, and a food comprising N-acetyl-D-mannosamine added thereto.

Agent for ameliorating brain hypofunction

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Kunio Shiota