Mechanisms of action of general anaesthetic drugs

The mechanism of action of general anaesthetic drugs is not fully un-derstood. Many theories have been adopted since the mid-1800s. It was initially thought that disruption to the lipid bilayer of neuronal cell membranes explained the anaesthetic actions of inhaled ether but current understanding is that general anaesthetic drugs, both inha-lational and intravenous, act on specific ion channels within neuronal cell membranes. Activation of inhibitory y -amino butyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors and blocking of excitatory N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors are proposed actions of popular anaesthetic medications with the overall effect of central nervous system depression. GABAA receptor subunits have a number of variants and receptors of differing combinations are affected by variably anaesthetic agents.

Automated summary

The mechanism of action of general anaesthetic drugs is not fully understood. It was initially believed that disruption to neuronal cell membrane's lipid bilayer explained the anaesthetic actions of inhaled ether, but current understanding is that general anaesthetic drugs act on specific ion channels within neuronal cell membranes. Popular anaesthetic medications activate GABAA receptors and block NMDA receptors, resulting in central nervous system depression. Different variants of GABAA receptor subunits are affected by various anaesthetic agents.