title: Naturally occurring benzodiazepines: current status of research and clinical implications.
abstract: Naturally occurring benzodiazepines (BZDs) were first detected in mammalian tissues in 1986. They comprise a variety of 1,4-benzodiazepines corresponding to drugs commercially available for the treatment of anxiety disorders, sleep disturbances and epileptic seizures. Several biosynthetic pathways leading to the formation of BZDs are currently being discussed and have led to the proposition of possible precursor molecules. For years, the identification of naturally occurring BZDs in mammalian organisms was mostly confined to post mortem CNS material for sensitivity reasons. While radioimmunoassay and radioreceptor assay techniques have been tentatively applied to quantitations of genuine BZDs from human milk and cerebrospinal fluid, accurate measurements in peripheral blood have only recently become accessible, e. g., by gas chromatography/selected ion monitoring-mass spectrometry (GC/SIM-MS). This review summarizes existing evidence of benzodiazepines' occurrence in nature and discusses implications for neuropsychiatric disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Würzburg, Germany. philipp.sand@mail.uni-wuerzburg.de
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sand
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kavvadias
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Feineis
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Riederer
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schreier
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kleinschnitz
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Czygan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abou-Mandour
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bringmann
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Beckmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000188:drug therapy; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy; D005442:Flumazenil / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018757:GABA Modulators / Q000627:therapeutic use; D058787:GABA-A Receptor Antagonists; D006501:Hepatic Encephalopathy / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D018757:GABA Modulators; D058787:GABA-A Receptor Antagonists; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D005442:Flumazenil