Kurzfassung

Ketamine is known as a dissociative anesthetic that among other effects induces unconsciousness. Ketamine non-competitively inhibits NMDA receptors with hardly any evidence that it affects GABA(A) receptors, the main target of most anesthetics. Unlike other compounds acting at the same site on NMDA receptors ketamine at higher concentrations seems to directly activate specific GABA(A) receptor subtypes. In a collaboration with the group of Jahansha Amin (Florida) and Wulf Hevers (now...Ketamine is known as a dissociative anesthetic that among other effects induces unconsciousness. Ketamine non-competitively inhibits NMDA receptors with hardly any evidence that it affects GABA(A) receptors, the main target of most anesthetics. Unlike other compounds acting at the same site on NMDA receptors ketamine at higher concentrations seems to directly activate specific GABA(A) receptor subtypes. In a collaboration with the group of Jahansha Amin (Florida) and Wulf Hevers (now Carl-Ludwig-Institut für Physiologie, Leipzig) we try to elucidate this phenomenon in more detail to unravel the proposed involvement of GABA(A) receptors in the actions of ketamine. » weiterlesen» einklappen