Benzodiazepine
In pharmacology, benzodiazepines are a class of medications that are "a group of two-ring heterocyclic compounds consisting of a benzene ring fused to a diazepine ring."[1] All benzodiazepines affect specific benzodiazepine receptors and modulate gamma-aminobutyric acid. Specific benzodiazepines also affect other neurotransmitters (e.g., clonazepam and alprazolam affect serotonin).
Benzodiazepines are classifed as GABA modulators, sedatives, and anti-anxiety agents. Uses include the treatment of anxiety disorders and alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Some are used as anticonvulsants and to treat musculoskeletal spasticity.
Part of the confusion in the receptors they affect come from the observation that what had previously been considered the GABAA-benzodiazepine-Cl- channel complex receptor has numerous sub-receptors, in five classes (α, β, γ, δ, ρ) with at least 16 subtypes. Benzodiazepine receptor type 1, for example, involves binding to α1, β2 and γ2.[2]
Examples are:
- Alprazolam
- Benzodiazepinones
- Anthramycin
- Bromazepam
- Clonazepam
- Devazepide
- Diazepam (Valium)
- Flumazenil
- Flunitrazepam
- Flurazepam
- Lorazepam
- Nitrazepam
- Oxazepam
- Pirenzepine
- Prazepam
- Temazepam
- Chlordiazepoxide (Librium)
- Clorazepate dipotassium
- Estazolam
- Medazepam
- Midazolam (Versed)
- Triazolam
References
- ↑ Anonymous (2024), Benzodiazepine (English). Medical Subject Headings. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- ↑ Ross J. Baldessarini (1996), Chapter 18, Drugs and the treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: Psychosis and Anxiety, in Joel G. Hardman et al., Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics (Ninth Edition ed.), McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0070262667 pp. 421-434