ArticleFrontiers in pharmacology2014
Identification of both GABAA receptors and voltage-activated Na(+) channels as molecular targets of anticonvulsant α-asarone.
Article in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Pharmacological Perspective on Plant-derived Bioactive Molecules for Epilepsy.Neurochemical research · 2021Pooled it
- Lung-Targeted Delivery of Nebulized α‑Asaronol Attenuates Airway Inflammation and Hyperresponsiveness in Murine Asthma Models.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2026Article
- Ethnopharmacological relevance of Chinese medicinal materials and natural products in epilepsy: a critical multi-target review integrating neurons, glia and inflammatory signaling.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Alpha‑Asarone Ameliorates Neuronal Injury After Ischemic Stroke and Hemorrhagic Transformation by Attenuating Blood-Brain Barrier Destruction, Promoting Neurogenesis, and Inhibiting Neuroinflammation.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Article
- New advances in Traditional Chinese Medicine interventions for epilepsy: where are we and what do we know?Chinese medicine · 2025Review
- An integrated in vitro human iPSCs-derived neuron and in vivo animal approach for preclinical screening of anti-seizure compounds.Journal of advanced research · 2024Article
- Firing Patterns of Mitral Cells and Their Transformation in the Main Olfactory Bulb.Brain sciences · 2024Article
- Analysis of the action mechanisms and targets of herbal anticonvulsants highlights opportunities for therapeutic engagement with refractory epilepsy.Journal of molecular medicine (Berlin, Germany) · 2024Review
- Alpha-Asarone Ameliorates Neurological Dysfunction of Subarachnoid Hemorrhagic Rats in Both Acute and Recovery Phases via Regulating the CaMKII-Dependent Pathways.Translational stroke research · 2024Article
- A narrative review on traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions and bioactive components in epilepsy treatment.Annals of translational medicine · 2023Review
- Therapeutic Potential of Active Components fromJournal of pharmacopuncture · 2022Review
- Positive Effect of α-Asaronol on the Incidence of Post-Stroke Epilepsy for Rat with Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Revealing the Antiepileptic Effect of α-Asaronol on Pentylenetetrazole-Induced Seizure Rats Using NMR-Based Metabolomics.ACS omega · 2022Article
- Advances in extraction methods, chemical constituents, pharmacological activities, molecular targets and toxicology of volatile oil fromFrontiers in pharmacology · 2022Review
- Natural Medicines for the Treatment of Epilepsy: Bioactive Components, Pharmacology and Mechanism.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2021Review
- Role of Vacha (Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Review
- Experimental evidence for use ofHeliyon · 2019Review
- Essential Oils and Their Constituents Targeting the GABAergic System and Sodium Channels as Treatment of Neurological Diseases.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018Review
- Low-dose oral cadmium increases airway reactivity and lung neuronal gene expression in mice.Physiological reports · 2016Article
- Biphasic Effects of α-Asarone on Immobility in the Tail Suspension Test: Evidence for the Involvement of the Noradrenergic and Serotonergic Systems in Its Antidepressant-Like Activity.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Alpha (α)-asarone, a major effective component isolated from the Chinese medicinal herb Acorus tatarinowii, is clinically used as medication for treating epilepsy, cough, bronchitis, and asthma. In the present study, we demonstrated that α-asarone targets central nervous system GABAA receptor as well as voltage-gated Na(+) channels. Using whole-cell patch-clamp recording, α-asarone inhibited spontaneous firing of output neurons, mitral cells (MCs), in mouse olfactory bulb brain slice preparation and hyperpolarized the membrane potential of MCs. The inhibitory effect of α-asarone persisted in the presence of ionotropic glutamate receptor blockers but was eliminated after adding a GABAA receptor blocker, suggesting that GABAA receptors mediated the inhibition of MCs by α-asarone. This hypothesis was supported by the finding that α-asarone evoked an outward current, but did not influence inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs). In addition to inhibiting spontaneous firing, α-asarone also inhibited the Nav1.2 channel, a dominant rat brain Na(+) channel subtype. The effects of α-asarone on a defined Nav1.2 were characterized using transfected cells that stably expressed the Nav1.2 channel isoform. α-Asarone displayed strong tonic inhibition of Nav1.2 currents in a concentration- and membrane potential-dependent fashion. α-Asarone reduced channel availability in steady-state inactivation protocols by enhancing or stabilizing Na(+) channel inactivation. Both Na(+) channel blockade and activation of GABAA receptors provide a possible mechanism for the known anti-epileptic effects of α-asarone. It also suggests that α-asarone could benefit patients with cough possibly through inhibiting a Na(+) channel subtype to inhibit peripheral and/or central sensitization of cough reflexes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.