Related Research Articles
Thujone is a ketone and a monoterpene that occurs predominantly in two diastereomeric (epimeric) forms: (−)-α-thujone and (+)-β-thujone.
γ-Aminobutyric acid, or GABA, is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the developmentally mature mammalian central nervous system. Its principal role is reducing neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system.
The GABA receptors are a class of receptors that respond to the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the chief inhibitory compound in the mature vertebrate central nervous system. There are two classes of GABA receptors: GABAA and GABAB. GABAA receptors are ligand-gated ion channels ; whereas GABAB receptors are G protein-coupled receptors, also called metabotropic receptors.
The GABAA receptor (GABAAR) is an ionotropic receptor and ligand-gated ion channel. Its endogenous ligand is γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Accurate regulation of GABAergic transmission through appropriate developmental processes, specificity to neural cell types, and responsiveness to activity is crucial for the proper functioning of nearly all aspects of the central nervous system (CNS). Upon opening, the GABAA receptor on the postsynaptic cell is selectively permeable to chloride ions (Cl−) and, to a lesser extent, bicarbonate ions (HCO3−).
GABAB receptors (GABABR) are G-protein coupled receptors for gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), therefore making them metabotropic receptors, that are linked via G-proteins to potassium channels. The changing potassium concentrations hyperpolarize the cell at the end of an action potential. The reversal potential of the GABAB-mediated IPSP is −100 mV, which is much more hyperpolarized than the GABAA IPSP. GABAB receptors are found in the central nervous system and the autonomic division of the peripheral nervous system.
The GABAA-rho receptor is a subclass of GABAA receptors composed entirely of rho (ρ) subunits. GABAA receptors including those of the ρ-subclass are ligand-gated ion channels responsible for mediating the effects of gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain. The GABAA-ρ receptor, like other GABAA receptors, is expressed in many areas of the brain, but in contrast to other GABAA receptors, the GABAA-ρ receptor has especially high expression in the retina.
Gabazine (SR-95531) is a drug that acts as an antagonist at GABAA receptors. It is used in scientific research and has no role in medicine, as it would be expected to produce convulsions if used in humans.
γ-Amino-β-hydroxybutyric acid (GABOB), also known as β-hydroxy-γ-aminobutyric acid (β-hydroxy-GABA), and sold under the brand name Gamibetal among others, is an anticonvulsant which is used for the treatment of epilepsy in Europe, Japan, and Mexico. It is a GABA analogue, or an analogue of the neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and has been found to be an endogenous metabolite of GABA.
Loreclezole is a sedative and an anticonvulsant which acts as a GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulator. The binding site of loreclezole has been shown experimentally to be shared by valerenic acid, an extract of the root of the valerian plant. Structurally, loreclezole is a triazole derivative. In animal seizure models, loreclezole is protective against pentylenetetrazol seizures but is less active in the maximal electroshock test. In addition, at low, nontoxic doses, the drug has anti-absence activity in a genetic model of generalized absence epilepsy. Consequently, loreclezole has a profile of activity similar to that of benzodiazepines. A potential benzodiazepine-like interaction with GABA receptors is suggested by the observation that the anticonvulsant effects of loreclezole can be reversed by benzodiazepine receptor inverse agonists. The benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil, however, fails to alter the anticonvulsant activity of loreclezole, indicating that loreclezole is not a benzodiazepine receptor agonist. Using native rat and cloned human GABA-A receptors, loreclezole strongly potentiated GABA-activated chloride current. However, activity of the drug did not require the presence of the γ-subunit and was not blocked by flumazenil, confirming that loreclezole does not interact with the benzodiazepine recognition site.
Gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor subunit alpha-3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GABRA3 gene.
Gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor subunit alpha-2 is a protein in humans that is encoded by the GABRA2 gene.
Etazolate (SQ-20,009, EHT-0202) is an anxiolytic drug which is a pyrazolopyridine derivative and has unique pharmacological properties. It acts as a positive allosteric modulator of the GABAA receptor at the barbiturate binding site, as an adenosine antagonist of the A1 and A2 subtypes, and as a phosphodiesterase inhibitor selective for the PDE4 isoform. It is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor subunit theta is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GABRQ gene. The protein encoded by this gene is a subunit of the GABAA receptor.
TPA-023 (MK-0777) is an anxiolytic drug with a novel chemical structure, which is used in scientific research. It has similar effects to benzodiazepine drugs, but is structurally distinct and so is classed as a nonbenzodiazepine anxiolytic. It is a mixed, subtype-selective ligand of the benzodiazepine site of α1, α2, α3, and α5-containing GABAA receptors, where it acts as a partial agonist at benzodiazepine sites of the α2 and α3-containing subtypes, but as a silent antagonist at α1 and α5-containing subtypes. It has primarily anxiolytic and anticonvulsant effects in animal tests, but with no sedative effects even at 50 times the effective anxiolytic dose.
A convulsant is a drug which induces convulsions and/or epileptic seizures, the opposite of an anticonvulsant. These drugs generally act as stimulants at low doses, but are not used for this purpose due to the risk of convulsions and consequent excitotoxicity. Most convulsants are antagonists at either the GABAA or glycine receptors, or ionotropic glutamate receptor agonists. Many other drugs may cause convulsions as a side effect at high doses but only drugs whose primary action is to cause convulsions are known as convulsants. Nerve agents such as sarin, which were developed as chemical weapons, produce convulsions as a major part of their toxidrome, but also produce a number of other effects in the body and are usually classified separately. Dieldrin which was developed as an insecticide blocks chloride influx into the neurons causing hyperexcitability of the CNS and convulsions. The Irwin observation test and other studies that record clinical signs are used to test the potential for a drug to induce convulsions. Camphor, and other terpenes given to children with colds can act as convulsants in children who have had febrile seizures.
17-Phenylandrostenol (17-PA), or (3α,5α)-17-phenylandrost-16-en-3-ol, is a steroid drug which binds to GABAA receptors. It acts as an antagonist against the sedative effects of neuroactive steroids, but has little effect when administered by itself, and does not block the effects of benzodiazepines or barbiturates.
Pivagabine, also known as N-pivaloyl-γ-aminobutyric acid or N-pivaloyl-GABA, is an antidepressant and anxiolytic drug which was introduced in Italy in 1997 for the treatment of depressive and maladaptive syndromes. But it was discontinued in Italy. Originally believed to function as a prodrug to GABA, pivagabine is now believed to act somehow via modulation of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF).
Quisqualamine is the α-decarboxylated analogue of quisqualic acid, as well as a relative of the neurotransmitters glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). α-Decarboxylation of excitatory amino acids can produce derivatives with inhibitory effects. Indeed, unlike quisqualic acid, quisqualamine has central depressant and neuroprotective properties and appears to act predominantly as an agonist of the GABAA receptor and also to a lesser extent as an agonist of the glycine receptor, due to the facts that its actions are inhibited in vitro by GABAA antagonists like bicuculline and picrotoxin and by the glycine antagonist strychnine, respectively. Mg2+ and DL-AP5, NMDA receptor blockers, CNQX, an antagonist of both the AMPA and kainate receptors, and 2-hydroxysaclofen, a GABAB receptor antagonist, do not affect quisqualamine's actions in vitro, suggesting that it does not directly affect the ionotropic glutamate receptors or the GABAB receptor in any way. Whether it binds to and acts upon any of the metabotropic glutamate receptors like its analogue quisqualic acid however is unclear.
In pharmacology, GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators, also known as GABAkines or GABAA receptor potentiators, are positive allosteric modulator (PAM) molecules that increase the activity of the GABAA receptor protein in the vertebrate central nervous system.
A GABAA receptor negative allosteric modulator is a negative allosteric modulator (NAM), or inhibitor, of the GABAA receptor, a ligand-gated ion channel of the major inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). They are closely related and similar to GABAA receptor antagonists. The effects of GABAA receptor NAMs are functionally the opposite of those of GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) like the benzodiazepines, barbiturates, and ethanol (alcohol). Non-selective GABAA receptor NAMs can produce a variety of effects including convulsions, neurotoxicity, and anxiety, among others.
References
- ↑ Green, M. A.; Halliwell, R. F. (October 1997). "Selective antagonism of the GABA A receptor by ciprofloxacin and biphenylacetic acid". British Journal of Pharmacology. 122 (3): 584–590. doi:10.1038/sj.bjp.0701411. ISSN 0007-1188. PMC 1564969 . PMID 9351519.
- ↑ Roman Furtmüller; Michael G Schlag; Michael Berger; Rudolf Hopf; Sigismund Huck; Werner Sieghart; Heinz Redl (April 2002). "Tranexamic Acid, a Widely Used Antifibrinolytic Agent, Causes Convulsions by a γ-Aminobutyric AcidA Receptor Antagonistic Effect". Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics . 301 (1): 168–173. doi:10.1124/jpet.301.1.168. PMID 11907171 . Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ↑ Karin M. Höld; Nilantha S. Sirisoma; Tomoko Ikeda; Toshio Narahashi; John E. Casida (April 2000). "α-Thujone (the active component of absinthe): γ-Aminobutyric acid type A receptor modulation and metabolic detoxification". PNAS . 97 (8): 3826–3831. Bibcode:2000PNAS...97.3826H. doi: 10.1073/pnas.070042397 . PMC 18101 . PMID 10725394.
- ↑ Lidija Ivic; Tristan T.J. Sands; Nathan Fishkin; Koji Nakanishi; Arnold R. Kriegstein; Kristian Strømgaard (December 2003). "Terpene Trilactones from Ginkgo biloba Are Antagonists of Cortical Glycine and GABAA Receptors". Journal of Biological Chemistry . 278 (49): 49279–49285. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M304034200 . PMID 14504293 . Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ↑ Robert M. Swift; Elizabeth R. Aston (March 2015). "Pharmacotherapy for Alcohol Use Disorder: Current and Emerging Therapies". Harvard Review of Psychiatry . 23 (2): 122–133. doi: 10.1097/HRP.0000000000000079 . PMC 4790835 . PMID 25747925.
 | This drug article relating to the nervous system is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |