Alcohol Intoxication
Alcohol intoxication has been shown to be directly connected to the actions of GIRK channels. GIRK channels have a hydrophobic pocket that is capable of binding ethanol, the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. When ethanol acts as an agonist, GIRK channels in the brain experience prolonged opening. This causes decreased neuronal activity, the result of which manifests as the symptoms of alcohol intoxication. The discovery of the hydrophobic pocket capable of binding ethanol is significant in the field of clinical pharmacology. Agents that can act as agonists to this binding site can be potentially useful in the creation of drugs for the treatment of neurological disorders such as epilepsy in which neuronal firing exceeds normal levels.
Read more about this topic: G Protein-gated Ion Channel, Clinical Significance and Ongoing Research
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