Biological Role
Lanthanum has no known biological role. The element is very poorly absorbed after oral administration and when injected its elimination is very slow. Lanthanum carbonate was approved as a medication named Fosrenol to absorb excess phosphate in cases of end-stage renal failure.
While lanthanum has pharmacological effects on several receptors and ion channels, its specificity for the GABA receptor is unique among divalent cations. Lanthanum acts at the same modulatory site on the GABA receptor as zinc- a known negative allosteric modulator. The Lanthanum cation La3+ is a positive allosteric modulator at native and recombinant GABA receptors, increasing open channel time and decreasing desensitization in a subunit configuration dependent manner.
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