Abstract
Benzodiazepines have found wide therapeutic application in the treatment of anxiety, sleep disorders, muscle spasms and convulsions. In the present report we describe recent progress in the clarification of the mechanism of action of benzodiazepines: benzodiazepines are bound to a specific target structure in the brain, termed benzodiazepine receptor, in order to elicit their pharmacological and therapeutic central effects. The receptor is characterized by a binding site highly specific for benzodiazepines. In addition to the identification, characteristics and distribution of the benzodiazepine receptor in normal human brain, its alteration in Huntington’s disease are described. Furthermore, present views on the biochemical mechanism of action of benzodiazepine are discussed.
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Möhler, H., Okada, T. (1979). The Benzodiazepine Receptor in Human Brain. In: Priest, R.G., Pletscher, A., Ward, J. (eds) Sleep Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6226-5_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6226-5_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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