Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid as a
signaling molecule in brain
by
Maitre M, Andriamampandry C, Kemmel V,
Schmidt C, Hode Y, Hechler V, Gobaille S.
Institute of Biochemistry and ER 2072 CNRS Faculty of Medicine,
11 Rue Humann, 67085, Strasbourg Cedex, France.
maitre@neurochem.u-strasbg.fr
Alcohol 2000 Apr;20(3):277-83
ABSTRACTGamma-hydroxybutyric acid was synthesized 35 years ago to obtain a GABAergic substance that penetrates the brain freely. Since then, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid has been used in human beings for its sedative and anesthetic properties when administered at high doses, and most of the studies on gamma-hydroxybutyric acid have focused on its pharmacological effects. However, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid is also an endogenous substance, which is synthesized and released in the brain by specific neuronal pathways, implicated in the control of the GABAergic, dopaminergic, and opioid systems. This control is mediated by specific gamma-hydroxybutyric acid receptors with a unique distribution in brain and a specific ontogenesis and pharmacology. Stimulation of these receptors induces specific cellular responses. Taken together, these results suggest that gamma-hydroxybutyric acid possesses most of the properties required of a neurotransmitter/neuromodulator in the brain.GHB
GABA
MDMA
Opioids
Reward
Alcohol
Dopamine
GHB: structure
GHB withdrawal
GHB and cocaine
Drugs and reward
GHB and the brain
GHB and the mouse
GHB and alcoholism
GHB and narcolepsy
GHB and growth hormone
Fasting, euphoria and GHB
GHB, GABA(A) and GABA(B)
The neurobiology of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid
GHB (Xyrem) v naltrexone in maintaining alcohol abstinence
and further reading
Refs
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