title: Pentobarbital: stereospecific actions of (+) and (-) isomers revealed on cultured mammalian neurons.
abstract: Stereoisomers of the barbiturate anesthetic pentobarbital were applied to mouse spinal neurons growing in tissue culture. Intracellular recordings of neuronal membrane properties revealed that the (+) and (-) isomers caused direct changes in membrane potential and conductance on some but not all of the cells tested. The action of the (+) isomer was predominantly excitatory, whereas the (-) isomer produced predominantly inhibitory responses. The (-) isomer was considerably more effective in potentiating inhibitory responses to the transmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid. The results show that pentobarbital has multiple effects on neuronal excitability and demonstrate the presence of stereospecific sites of barbiturate action on central neurons.
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000187:drug effects; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects*; D010424:Pentobarbital / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000196:embryology; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D010424:Pentobarbital