Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18778723›Full record

ArticleNeuropharmacology2009

Etomidate, propofol and the neurosteroid THDOC increase the GABA efficacy of recombinant alpha4beta3delta and alpha4beta3 GABA A receptors expressed in HEK cells.

Pratap Meera, Richard W Olsen, Thomas S Otis, Martin Wallner

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuropharmacology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
37citing papers in PubMed
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

37 citing papers in PubMed, 53 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The human GABAbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
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  2. The human GABAmicroPublication biology · 2026
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  3. Article
  4. Neurosteroids: mechanistic considerations and clinical prospects.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024
    Review
  5. GABAFrontiers in pharmacology · 2023
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Comparison of αβδ and αβγ GABAPharmacological research · 2018
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Methylene blue inhibits GABANeuropharmacology · 2017
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Pratap MeeraDepartment of Neurobiology, Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
Richard W Olsen
Thomas S Otis
Martin Wallner
University of California, Los Angeles · US

Funding

ZINC AND GABAA RECEPTOR PLASTICITYP01NS035985 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI MODY, ISTVAN · 1998 to 2009
$7.9M
NINDS NIH HHS NS035985NINDS NIH HHS P01 NS035985
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

General anesthetics, once thought to exert their effects through non-specific membrane effects, have highly specific ion channel targets that can silence neuronal populations in the nervous system, thereby causing unconsciousness and immobility, characteristic of general anesthesia. Inhibitory GABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)Rs), particularly highly GABA-sensitive extrasynaptic receptor subtypes that give rise to sustained inhibitory currents, are uniquely sensitive to GABA(A)R-active anesthetics. A prominent population of extrasynaptic GABA(A)Rs is made up of alpha4, beta2 or beta3, and delta subunits. Considering the demonstrated importance of GABA receptor beta3 subunits for in vivo anesthetic effects of etomidate and propofol, we decided to investigate the effects of GABA anesthetics on "extrasynaptic" alpha4beta3delta and also binary alpha4beta3 receptors expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells. Consistent with previous work on similar receptor subtypes we show that maximal GABA currents through "extrasynaptic" alpha4beta3delta receptors, receptors defined by sensitivity to EtOH (30mM) and the beta-carboline beta-CCE (1microM), are enhanced by the GABA(A)R-active anesthetics etomidate, propofol, and the neurosteroid anesthetic THDOC. Furthermore, we show that receptors formed by alpha4beta3 subunits alone also show high GABA sensitivity and that saturating GABA responses of alpha4beta3 receptors are increased to the same extent by etomidate, propofol, and THDOC as are alpha4beta3delta receptors. Therefore, both alpha4beta3 and alpha4beta3delta receptors show low GABA efficacy, and GABA is also a partial agonist on certain binary alphabeta receptor subtypes. Increasing GABA efficacy on alpha4/6beta3delta and alpha4beta3 receptors is likely to make an important contribution to the anesthetic effects of etomidate, propofol and the neurosteroid THDOC.

Indexed as

Cell Line, TransformedCentral Nervous System DepressantsDesoxycorticosteroneDose-Response Relationship, DrugDrug SynergismElectric StimulationEthanolEtomidategamma-Aminobutyric AcidGene ExpressionHumansHypnotics and SedativesPatch-Clamp TechniquesPropofolReceptors, GABA-ARecombinant ProteinsCentral Nervous System DepressantsDesoxycorticosteroneEthanolEtomidategamma-Aminobutyric AcidHypnotics and SedativesPropofolReceptors, GABA-ARecombinant Proteinstetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone

Identifiers

PMID18778723
PMCPMC2659766
OpenAlexW2089911890

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.