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  • Title: Different actions of anticonvulsant and anesthetic barbiturates revealed by use of cultured mammalian neurons.
    Author: Macdonald RL, Barker JL.
    Journal: Science; 1978 May 19; 200(4343):775-7. PubMed ID: 205953.
    Abstract:
    Barbiturate anesthetics, but not anticonvulsants, abolish the spontaneous activity of cultured spinal cord neurons; directly increase membrane conductance, an effect which is suppressed by the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) antagonists picrotoxin and penicillin; and are more potent than anticonvulsants in augmenting GABA and depressing glutamate responses. Barbiturate anticonvulsants abolish picrotoxin-induced convulsive activity. These results indicate qualitative and quantitative differences between anesthetic and anticonvulsant barbiturates, which may explain their different clinical effects.
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