title: Amantadine restores impulse conduction across demyelinated nerve segments.
abstract: 1. Drugs can be identified that relieve clinical symptoms of demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis based on their ability to alter voltage-dependent ion channels in membranes and restore conduction in demyelinated nerve. Beneficial drugs either slow inactivation of membrane Na+ channels or block K+ channels. 2. Amantadine, an antiviral drug that slows Na+ inactivation in Myxicola giant axons, restores conduction in frog and rat sciatic nerves partially demyelinated by disruption of the perineurium (the 'perineurial window') loose ligatures, or lysolecithin. 3. A positive effect of amantadine on several different animal models supports the need for clinically oriented studies of amantadine and related inactivation-blocking agents in diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D000547:Amantadine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D010543:Peroneal Nerve / Q000187:drug effects; D011892:Rana catesbeiana; D011894:Rana pipiens; D051381:Rats; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000547:Amantadine