Giancarlo Pepeu

Giancarlo Pepeu (29 March 1930 – 20 November 2021) was an Italian Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Florence and an Honorary Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society. He was from Milan and graduated with a Laurea degree in Medicine from the University of Florence to pursue an academic career.

Giancarlo Pepeu
Photograph of Giancarlo Pepeu taken while he was going to Trieste
Born29 March 1930
Milan (Italy)
Died20 November 2021
Florence (Italy)
Alma materUniversity of Florence
OccupationUniversity Professor
Known forNeuropharmacology, Acetylcholine
SpouseIleana Marconcini (m.1964)
Parent(s)Francesco Pepeu,[1][2][3] Edvige d'Anna[4]
RelativesStefano Marconcini

Biography

Giancarlo Pepeu was born on 29 March 1930 in Milan, Italy.[5] He was a member of the Pepeu family, whose earliest known member was Stefano Pepeu, a merchant in Trieste, born about 1750, presumably to immigrant parents. In the Pepeu family, it has been passed down that the surname Pepeu is of Istro-Romanian origin. The termination -u, common in surnames of the related Romanians, could be proof of distant Istro-Romanian ancestry of the Pepeu family. Giancarlo's family is the only one known to carry the surname Pepeu in Trieste and in the rest of Italy.[6]

Upon completing his studies in 1954, Giancarlo Pepeu began research at the Florence's Institute of Pharmacology, under the guidance of Professor Mario Aiazzi-Mancini.[7] In 1958, he became a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University's[8] Department of Pharmacology, and from 1961 to 1968 he contributed as assistant professor across Italian Universities in Sassari, Pisa and Cagliari. Subsequently, Pepeu became full professor of pharmacology in 1968. In 1974, Pepeu was appointed Professor Pharmacology at the University of Florence's Faculty of Medicine, a position he held until his retirement in 2005. While in Florence he also held roles as the Dean for Scientific Research and International Relations, and as the Director of the Department of Preclinical and Clinical Pharmacology.[9] Additionally, Pepeu served as the president of the Italian Pharmacological Society.[10]

Pepeu died on 20 November 2021.[5]

Academic research

Giancarlo Pepeu's scientific interests were concentrated in Endocrinology and Neuroscience[11] including the study of Acetylcholine, Cholinergic agents and, in particular, neurotransmitters like glutamate[12] and GABA[13] alongside Acetylcholine[14] (ACh) and other biogenic amines known for their substantial effects on the central and autonomic nervous system.[15] His initial work on ACh revolved around investigating how psychotropic drugs could alter the concentration and release of ACh, thereby influencing mechanisms underlying EEG and behavioral changes.[16][17] While at Yale University, Pepeu and his collaborator Nick Giarman demonstrated that antimuscarinic drugs like Atropine and Scopolamine lowered ACh level in the cerebral cortex,[18] implying a potential connection between this phenomenon and the amnesic effect of these drugs. Subsequently, they laid the foundational principles for comprehending ACh release from the cerebral cortex,[19] paving the way for subsequent studies on drugs and afferent inputs from subcortical structures modulating this process.[20] In Florence, Pepeu expanded his inquiries to encompass in vivo and in vitro studies of ACh release, broadening his investigations to glutamate, GABA and adenosine release.[21][22] His research indicated that cortical networks operating via complex neurotransmitter interactions were responsible for drug effects on memory.[23] In the later stages of his career, Pepeu's activity shifted to exploring the role of central cholinergic pathways in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease,[24] where he revealed the fundamental role of neuroinflammation in animal models with the condition.[25]

Published works

References
  1. "Francesco Pepeu (in Italian)'".
  2. "Pepeu, Francesco - Fotografie - 1860-1930 - Collezione [della] Fototeca dei Civici Musei di storia ed arte (in Italian)'".
  3. "C'era un medico di Trieste al Caffè Focolaio, prima linea contro le pandemie d'Europa (in Italian)'".
  4. "Famiglia d'Anna de Celo' (in Italian)".
  5. "È morto il professore e farmacologo Giancarlo Pepeu". MilanoToday (in Italian). 22 November 2021.
  6. Lippi, Donatella (2011). "La vicenda biografica e professionale di Emerico Pepeu". In Ponte, Euro (ed.). Tra Esculapio e Mercurio. Medici e sanità nella Trieste dell'Ottocento (in Italian). Edizioni Università di Trieste. pp. 136–143. ISBN 9788883033247.
  7. "Firenze University Press: Mario Aiazzi-Mancini, M.D.,". Archived from the original on 12 October 2004.
  8. Pepeu, G.; Giarman, N. (21 May 1960). "Effect of Methylpentynol on Acetylcholine in the Rat's Brain". Nature. 186 (1960): 638. doi:10.1038/186638a0.
  9. "Florence University: Curriculum Vitae - Giancalo Pepeu" (PDF).
  10. "La SIF ricorda Giancalo Pepeu".
  11. "Summary of Citations of Giancarlo Pepeu's Work".
  12. Corradetti, R.; Lo Conte, G.; Moroni, F.; Passani, B.; Pepeu, G. (1984). "Adenosine decreases aspartate and glutamate release from rat hippocampal slices". European Journal of Pharmacology. 104 (1–2): 19–26. doi:10.1016/0014-2999(84)90364-9.
  13. Giovannini, MG.; Rakovska, A.; Benton, RS.; Pazzagli, M.; Bianchi, L.; Pepeu, G. (2001). "Effects of novelty and habituation on acetylcholine, GABA, and glutamate release from the frontal cortex and hippocampus of freely moving rats". Neuroscience. 106 (1): 43–53. doi:10.1016/s0306-4522(01)00266-4.
  14. Pepeu, G. (1963). "Effect of 'tremorine' and some anti-parkinson's disease drugs on acetylcholine in the rat's brain". Nature. 200: 895. doi:10.1038/200895a0.
  15. Ruggero, M.; Corradetti, R.; Chiarugi, V.; Pepeu, G. (1987). "Phospholipase C activation induced by noradrenaline in rat hippocampal slices is potentiated by GABA-receptor stimulation". EMBO Journal. 6: 1595–1598. doi:10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02405.x.
  16. Pepeu, G. (1973). "The release of acetylcholine from the brain: an approach to the study of the central cholinergic mechanisms". Progress in Neurobiology. 2 (1): 259–288. doi:10.1177/2398212818820506.
  17. Pepeu, G.; Marconcini-Pepeu, I. (1986). "Neuroregulators and electrical activity: transmitter and modulator influence on the cortical cholinergic system". Electroencephalography & Clinical Neurophysiology Suppl. 38: 406–416. PMID 2878800.
  18. Giarman, N.; Pepeu, G. (1962). "Drug-induced changes in brain acetylcholine". British Journal of Pharmacology and Chemotherapy. 19: 226–334. doi:10.1111/j.1476-5381.1962.tb01184.x.
  19. Pepeu, G.; Bartolini, A.; Giovannini, M.G.; Kopf, S.R. (1998). "Acetylcholine release from the frontal cortex during exploratory activity". Brain Research. 1–2: 218–227. doi:10.1016/s0006-8993(97)01161-x.
  20. Nistri, A.; Bartolini, A.; Deffenu, G.; Pepeu, G. (1972). "Investigations into the release of acetylcholine from the cerebral cortex of the cat: effects of amphetamine, of scopolamine and of septal lesions". Neuropharmacology. 11, 5: 665–674. doi:10.1016/0028-3908(72)90074-3.
  21. Pepeu, G.; Blandina, P. (1998). "The acetylcholine, GABA, glutamate triangle in the rat forebrain". Journal of Physiology. Paris. 91: 315–355. doi:10.1016/S0928-4257(99)80004-7.
  22. Latini, S.; Pazzagli, M.; Pepeu, G.; Pedata, F. (1996). "A2 adenosine receptors: their presence and neuromodulatory role in the central nervous system". General Pharmacology: The Vascular System. 27: 925–933. doi:10.1016/0306-3623(96)00044-4.
  23. Pepeu, G. (1994). "Memory disorders: novel treatments, clinical perspective". Life Sciences. 55: 2189–2194. doi:10.1016/0024-3205(94)00400-5.
  24. Pepeu, G.; Giovannini, M.G. (2017). "The fate of the brain cholinergic neurons in neurodegenerative diseases". Brain Research. 1670: 173–184. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2017.06.023.
  25. Casamenti, F.; Prosperi, C.; Scali, C.; Giovannelli, L.; Pepeu, G. (1998). "Morphological, biochemical and behavioural changes induced by neurotoxic and inflammatory insults to the nucleus basalis". International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience. 16: 705–714. doi:10.1016/s0736-5748(98)00080-x.
  26. Pepeu G., Ladinsky H. (1980). Cholinergic Mechanisms. New York: Plenum Publishing Corporation. p. 899. ISBN 978-0-306-40810-6.
  27. Pepeu G.; Kuhar M.J.; Enna S.J. (1980). Receptors for Neurotransmitters and Peptide Hormones. New York: Raven Press. p. 516. ISBN 978-0-890-04408-7.
  28. Genazzani E; Giotti A; Mantegazza P; Pepeu G; Periti P. (1986–1991). Trattato di Farmacologia e Chemioterapia. Vol. 1–2 (1-2 ed.). Torino: UTET. pp. 862, 560. ISBN 8-803-00183-2.
  29. Pepeu G.; Tomlinson B.; Wischik C.M. (1988). New Trends in Aging Research. Vol. VIII (1 ed.). New York: Springer Verlag. p. 237. ISBN 978-0-387-96911-4.
  30. Hanin I.; Pepeu G. (1990). Phospholipids: Biochemical, Pharmaceutical and Analytical Considerations. New York: Plenum Press. p. 325. ISBN 978-1475713664.
  31. Giacobini E., Pepeu G. (2006). Brain Cholinergic System in Health and Disease. Abingdon: Informa Healthcare. p. 274. ISBN 978-1841845753.
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