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Giancarlo Pepeu

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Italian pharmacologist and professor

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, Edvige d'Anna
RelativesStefano Marconcini

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.

Biography

Giancarlo Pepeu was born on 29 March 1930 in Milan, Italy. 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.

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. In 1958, he became a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University's 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. Additionally, Pepeu served as the president of the Italian Pharmacological Society.

Pepeu died on 20 November 2021.

Academic research

Giancarlo Pepeu's scientific interests were concentrated in Endocrinology and Neuroscience including the study of Acetylcholine, Cholinergic agents and, in particular, neurotransmitters like glutamate and GABA alongside Acetylcholine (ACh) and other biogenic amines known for their substantial effects on the central and autonomic nervous system. 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. 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, 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, paving the way for subsequent studies on drugs and afferent inputs from subcortical structures modulating this process. 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. His research indicated that cortical networks operating via complex neurotransmitter interactions were responsible for drug effects on memory. 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, where he revealed the fundamental role of neuroinflammation in animal models with the condition.

Published works

  • According to PubMed, G. Pepeu is author of more than 264 papers, published between 1955 and 2017 and coauthored six books

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)'". 14 June 2020.
  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. Dolara, Piero (2005). "Mario Aiazzi Mancini". Firenze University Press: Mario Aiazzi-Mancini, M.D. Firenze University Press. doi:10.1400/52248. Archived from the original on 18 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. Pepeu, G.; Giarman, N. (21 May 1960). "Effect of Methylpentynol on Acetylcholine in the Rat's Brain". Nature. 186 (1960): 638. Bibcode:1960Natur.186..638P. doi:10.1038/186638a0. PMID 14431656.
  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. PMID 6149943.
  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. PMID 11564415.
  14. Pepeu, G. (1963). "Effect of 'tremorine' and some anti-parkinson's disease drugs on acetylcholine in the rat's brain". Nature. 200 (4909): 895. Bibcode:1963Natur.200..895P. doi:10.1038/200895a0. PMID 14096075.
  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 (6): 1595–1598. doi:10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb02405.x. PMC 553529. PMID 3038526.
  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. PMC 7058246. PMID 32166177.
  17. Pepeu, G.; Marconcini-Pepeu, I. (1986). "Neuroregulators and electrical activity: transmitter and modulator influence on the cortical cholinergic system". Electroencephalography & Clinical Neurophysiology Supplement. 38: 406–416. PMID 2878800.
  18. Giarman, N.; Pepeu, G. (1962). "Drug-induced changes in brain acetylcholine". British Journal of Pharmacology and Chemotherapy. 19 (2): 226–334. doi:10.1111/j.1476-5381.1962.tb01184.x. PMC 1482146. PMID 13947637.
  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 (1–2): 218–227. doi:10.1016/s0006-8993(97)01161-x. PMID 9518622.
  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 (5): 665–674. doi:10.1016/0028-3908(72)90074-3. PMID 4597257.
  21. Pepeu, G.; Blandina, P. (1998). "The acetylcholine, GABA, glutamate triangle in the rat forebrain". Journal of Physiology. 91 (5–6). Paris: 315–355. doi:10.1016/S0928-4257(99)80004-7. PMID 9789836.
  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 (6): 925–933. doi:10.1016/0306-3623(96)00044-4. PMID 8909972.
  23. Pepeu, G. (1994). "Memory disorders: novel treatments, clinical perspective". Life Sciences. 55 (25–26): 2189–2194. doi:10.1016/0024-3205(94)00400-5. PMID 7997078.
  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. PMID 28652219.
  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 (7–8): 705–714. doi:10.1016/s0736-5748(98)00080-x. PMID 10198818.
  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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