GABAergic Synaptic Transmission: Molecular, Pharmacological, and Clinical Aspects
GABAergic Synaptic Transmission: Molecular, Pharmacological, and Clinical Aspects
Giovanni Biggio, Alessandra Concas, Erminio Costa
New York, NY: Raven Press, 496 pp, 1992
This book contains the latest findings in physiology and pharmacology on the central GABAergic transmission complex. The findings were presented during the VII Sardinian Conference on Neuroscience, held in Domus De Maria, Sardinia, in June 1991. Each of the 44 chapters were written by different authors and reflect each of the author’s writing styles.
The book begins logically with molecular biology and progresses to molecular and clinical pharmacology and therapeutic approaches. It is divided into large sections, which makes it easier for readers to choose the chapters of interest to them.
The first section discusses molecular biology and molecular pharmacology. This is a highly specialized section for those who are familiar with the molecular biology and pharmacology of the GABAa receptor sub-unit. The section shows the enormous progress that is being done in understanding basic molecular structures of the GABAa receptor. This field likely changes from month to month as new discoveries are added. Therefore, what is in the book is a snapshot of the state of the art in 1991, when the conference was presented.
The next section, “Allosteric Modulators: The Neurosteroids,” is a very technical section on the interaction between the neurosteroid and GABAa receptor functions. In addition to papers on animal studies on rats’ brains, there is an interesting chapter on the interaction between neu-rosteroids and Huntington’s disease, which has some clinical applications.
The section on GABAa/benzodiazepine receptor subclasses shows the complexity of the interaction of the GABAa receptor and benzodiazepines. There is also a chapter on the GABAA receptor. Benzodiazepines are among the most heavily prescribed drugs in the modern world. A basic knowledge of the benzodiazepine receptor would be very appropriate for clinicians prescribing this drug. This section goes down to the molecular level and shows the complexity of the regulation of GABAa receptor is. It is important because benzodiazepines have tachyphylaxis and many unwanted side-effects. This section explains from the molecular point of view what may be happening in these cases and whether there can be any benzodiazepines without undesired effects.
The last two sections which deal with two commonly used and prescribed drugs, ethanol and benzodiazepines. These are the most clinical sections of this book. They raise more questions for future research than they answer, because they show the complexity of the effects of both a simple social lubricant, such as alcohol, and heavily prescribed medications, such as benzodiazepines. There is a chapter on the preliminary results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of a partial benzodiazepine agonist, which shows that there novel types of agents might be useful in clinical practice. There is also a review of drugs which are not benzodiazepines but which act as benzodiazepine receptors — the cyclopyrrolones.
In summary, this is a book to be read from cover to cover, as a novel, but rather has different information for different kinds of readers. The molecular biology and pharmacology section as well as the GABAa benzodiazepine receptor section are aimed more at the basic scientist, while the sections on ethanol and the benzodiazepines versus non-benzodiazepine GABAergic drugs are easier reading for practising clinicians.
I found this book heavy reading. However, there is a great deal of information on the state of the art of GABAergic synaptic transmission in one volume, and this, of course, makes it a required reference for all researchers and clinicians who deal with this kind of basic research and clinical research. It is not a book for people who do not have a basic understanding of synaptic transmission in general. It shows how complex the world has become as we try to understand basic mechanism of brain functioning.