title: [Mechanism of action of general anesthetics. Effect on ion channel proteins or on membrane phospholipids?].
abstract: General anesthesia is defined by reversible unconsciousness, lack of response to noxious stimuli, and amnesia, induced by chemical agents. Mechanisms underlying the anesthetic effect are not known. The most prevalent belief was that anesthetic drugs acted on the lipid cell membranes, based on the correlation between oil solubility and anesthetic potency. Later, it has been proposed that anesthetic agents act on specific proteins of the cellular membrane of neurons. Voltage-gated ionic channels are inhibited by anesthetic agents, being some subtypes more sensitive. Clinical concentration of anesthetic agents inhibit or stimulate excitatory or inhibitory neurotransmitter receptors, respectively. Specific receptor agonists and antagonists modify this effect. Intercellular channels (gap junctions) are also affected by anesthetic agents through direct interaction with some of their protein subunits. Thus, anesthesia would result from combined effects on specific proteins acting on neural cell excitability as well as transmission and propagation of nerve impulses.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigaciones Médicas, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Núñez
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Urzúa
mesh_terms: D018681:Anesthetics, General / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017629:Gap Junctions / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000187:drug effects*; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D018681:Anesthetics, General; D007473:Ion Channels; D008563:Membrane Lipids
vernacular_title: Mecanismo de acción de los anestésicos generales. Efecto sobre proteínas de canales iónicos o sobre fosfolípidos de membrana?