“…In the CNS it plays a role in: neuromodulation [55,56,57], osmoregulation [33,58], the maintenance of calcium homeostasis [59,60,61,62,63], membrane stabilization [64], anti-oxidation [65,66], anti-inflammation [67,68] and neuroprotection [59,69,70,71,72,73] and is also seen as a trophic factor during CNS development [40,74]. Its neuroprotective effect is observed against l -glutamate induced excitotoxicity whereby it counteracts the glutamate-induced increase of intracellular calcium through L-, P/Q-, N-type voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) and the N -methyl- d -aspartate (NMDA) receptor, thus preventing glutamate-induce membrane depolarization [59,69].…”