NMDA Receptor Antagonist
NMDA receptor antagonists are a class of anesthetics that work to antagonize, or inhibit the action of, the N-methyl d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR). They are used as anesthesia for animals and, less commonly, for humans; the state of anesthesia they induce is referred to as dissociative anesthesia. There is evidence that NMDA receptor antagonists can cause a certain type of neurotoxicity or brain damage referred to as Olney's Lesions in rodents, though such damage has never been observed in primates like humans.
Several synthetic opioids function additionally as NMDAR-antagonists, such as Meperidine, Methadone, Dextropropoxyphene, Tramadol and Ketobemidone.
Some NMDA receptor antagonists, including but not limited to ketamine (K), dextromethorphan (DXM), phencyclidine (PCP), and nitrous oxide (N2O) are popular as recreational drugs for their dissociative, hallucinogenic, and/or euphoriant properties. When used recreationally, they are classified as dissociative drugs.
Read more about NMDA Receptor Antagonist: Uses and Effects, Neurotoxicity, Potential For Treatment of Excitotoxicity, Mechanism of Action
Famous quotes containing the word receptor:
“The disinterest [of my two great-aunts] in anything that had to do with high society was such that their sense of hearing ... put to rest its receptor organs and allowed them to suffer the true beginnings of atrophy.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)