Nature. 1994 Feb 17;367(6464):607-14.

Molecular and cellular mechanisms of general anaesthesia.

Source

Biophysics Section, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine, London, UK.

Abstract

General anaesthetics are much more selective than is usually appreciated and may act by binding to only a small number of targets in the central nervous system. At surgical concentrations their principal effects are on ligand-gated (rather than voltage-gated) ion channels, with potentiation of postsynaptic inhibitory channel activity best fitting the pharmacological profile observed in general anaesthesia. Although the role of second messengers remains uncertain, it is now clear that anaesthetics act directly on proteins rather than on lipids.

PMID:: 7509043; [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Publication Types, MeSH Terms, Substances

Publication Types

MeSH Terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical

ClinicalTrials.gov

Supplemental Content

Save items

Related citations in PubMed

Review Effects of general anaesthetics on ligand-gated ion channels. [Br J Anaesth. 1993]
Review Effects of general anaesthetics on ligand-gated ion channels.
Daniels S, Smith EB. Br J Anaesth. 1993 Jul; 71(1):59-64.
Review Excitatory and inhibitory synaptic mechanisms in anaesthesia. [Br J Anaesth. 1993]
Review Excitatory and inhibitory synaptic mechanisms in anaesthesia.
Pocock G, Richards CD. Br J Anaesth. 1993 Jul; 71(1):134-47.
Review General anaesthetic actions on ligand-gated ion channels. [Cell Mol Life Sci. 1999]
Review General anaesthetic actions on ligand-gated ion channels.
Krasowski MD, Harrison NL. Cell Mol Life Sci. 1999 Aug 15; 55(10):1278-303.
Review Voltage-gated ion channels. [Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2008]
Review Voltage-gated ion channels.
Nau C. Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2008; (182):85-92.
Review Which molecular targets are most relevant to general anaesthesia? [Toxicol Lett. 1998]
Review Which molecular targets are most relevant to general anaesthesia?
Franks NP, Lieb WR. Toxicol Lett. 1998 Nov 23; 100-101:1-8.

See reviews... See all...

Cited by over 100 PubMed Central articles

Paradoxic effects of propofol on visceral pain induced by various TRPV1 agonists. [Exp Ther Med. 2013]
Paradoxic effects of propofol on visceral pain induced by various TRPV1 agonists.
Ji W, Cui C, Zhang Z, Liang J. Exp Ther Med. 2013 Apr; 5(4):1259-1263. Epub 2013 Feb 5.
Direct and Specific Effect of Sevoflurane Anesthesia on rat Per2 Expression in the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus. [PLoS One. 2013]
Direct and Specific Effect of Sevoflurane Anesthesia on rat Per2 Expression in the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus.
Anzai M, Iijima N, Higo S, Takumi K, Matsuo I, Mori K, Ohe Y, Kadota K, Akimoto T, Sakamoto A, et al. PLoS One. 2013; 8(3):e59454. Epub 2013 Mar 21.
Modulation of functional EEG networks by the NMDA antagonist nitrous oxide. [PLoS One. 2013]
Modulation of functional EEG networks by the NMDA antagonist nitrous oxide.
Kuhlmann L, Foster BL, Liley DT. PLoS One. 2013; 8(2):e56434. Epub 2013 Feb 14.

See all...

Related information

Related Citations
Calculated set of PubMed citations closely related to the selected article(s) retrieved using a word weight algorithm. Related articles are displayed in ranked order from most to least relevant, with the “linked from” citation displayed first.
Cited in PMC
Full-text articles in the PubMed Central Database that cite the current articles.
Cited in Books
NCBI Bookshelf books that cite the current articles.

Recent activity

Clear Turn Off Turn On

Molecular and cellular mechanisms of general anaesthesia.
Molecular and cellular mechanisms of general anaesthesia.
Nature. 1994 Feb 17 ;367(6464):607-14.

PubMed

Your browsing activity is empty.

Activity recording is turned off.

Turn recording back on

PubMed

Result Filters

Display Settings:

Send to: