Convulsant component of a depressant benzodiazepine

The interaction of a benzodiazepine receptor antagonist (Ro15-1788) with GABA and GABA receptor antagonists at the GABA(A) receptor chloride-ionophore complex

The effect of the GABA(A) receptor antagonists bicuculline and SR 95531 was compared with that of the antidepressants amoxapine and amitriptyline on GABA-stimulated (36)CL(?) uptake using membrane vesicles from the rat cerebral cortex. The interaction of Ro15-1788 with these drugs and the effect of Ro15-1788 on GABA-stimulated uptake of (36)Cl(?) were also investigated. GABA(A) receptor antagonists and the antidepressants inhibited 30 ?M GABA-mediated uptake of (36)Cl(?) with the rank order of potency of SR 95531 > bicuculline > amoxapine > amitriptyline. Ro15-1788 potentiated the effect of these inhibitors on 30 ?M GABA-stimulated chloride uptake. Ro15-1788 alone did not alter the effect of 30 ?M GABA on (36)Cl(?) uptake. However, it did inhibit the (36)Cl(?) uptake produced by 100 ?M GABA, and enhanced (36)Cl(?) uptake mediated by 10 ?M GABA. The data show variations in the apparent intrinsic efficacy of Ro15-1788 at the chloride channel with respect to different experimental conditions. It is suggested that the activity of Ro15-1788 depends on changes in the conformational state of benzodiazepine-GABA(A) receptor chloride-ionophore complex produced by GABA and GABA receptor antagonists.

Shared mechanisms of antidepressant and antiepileptic treatments: drugs and devices

Many treatments for the epilepsies and affective disorder share the properties of seizure suppression and mood stabilization. Moreover, affective disorders and the epilepsies appear to share partially similar pathogenic mechanisms. A component of the shared predisposition appears to arise from noradrenergic and serotonergic deficits. Increasing evidence supports the hypothesis that noradrenergic and/or serotonergic elevation is a mechanism of therapeutic benefit shared by most antidepressants and many antiepileptic medications. Medication induced alterations in GABAergic, glutamatergic, and CRH (corticotropin releasing hormone) containing neurons may also contribute to the shared therapeutic properties of antidepressant and antiepileptic medications.