Dissociative anesthetics effects

For many years it was believed that the brain mechanisms underlying the effects of psychedelic hallucinogens and dissociative anesthetics were separate and distinct. Indeed, there has been considerable debate about which represents the best drag model of schizophrenia. However, recent data show that the two classes of psychotomimetic drags share a common final pathway involving an increase in the release of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate. 

Phencyclidine (l-[l-phenylcyclohexyl] piperidine, PCP) was originally developed as an intravenous anesthetic in the 1950s. Used for this indication, it causes a trance-like state without loss of consciousness and was hence classified as a dissociative anesthetic. However, it was soon withdrawn from human use because it produced unpleasant hallucinations, agitation, and delirium. The product was later used in veterinary medicine. Ketamine, a chemically closely related substance, was developed to replace PCP and is stiU in use as a dissociative anesthetic in children. Ketamine is less potent than PCP, and its effects are of shorter duration. However, it may also cause hallucinations (see the section on ketamine in Chapter 7, Club Drugs ). Much of the ketamine sold on the street (special K, cat Valium) has been diverted from veterinarians offices. 

Phencyclidine (PCP), a dissociative anesthetic agent, which is subject to abuse, produces behavioral effects in man that frequently resemble schizophrenia (Luisada 1978). Manifestations of persistent psychopathology frequently remain after the acute effects of PCP have diminished. With PCP, subjects may display autistic and delusional thinking typical of schizophrenics (Luby et al. 1959). A more striking link between schizophrenia and PCP comes from observations of cases in which PCP was given to hospitalized schizophrenics (Luisada 1978). After receiving PCP, these patients showed extreme exacerbation of their psychoses the reaction persisted for up to 6 weeks. By contrast, LSD produced no more severe effects in schizophrenics than in normal subjects. 

Actions Dissociative anesthetic gas Effects Dizziness, suffocation d/t inhalation device (ie, garbage bag, balloon)... 

Domino EF, Chodoff P, Corssen G (1965) Pharmacologic effects of Cl-581, a new dissociative anesthetic, in man. Clin Pharmacol Ther 6 279-291 Doraiswamy PM (2002) Non-cholinergic strategies for treating and preventing Alzheimer s disease. CNS Drugs 16 811-824... 

Some 30 phencyclldlne-llke compounds are known to produce psychophysical effects resembling those of SNA. Of these, ketamine (Ketalar, Ketaject), a chlorophenyl methylamlnocyclohexanone, is currently used fairly widely as a dissociative anesthetic In humans. Therefore, Its use can provide clinical information about undeslred effects of single doses of the phencyclidine series. 

Ketamine, a unique dissociate anesthetic with analgesic properties, does not produce its effects via facilitation of GABAa... 

Finally, there was a resurgence of interest in psychotogenic effects of ketamine in the early 1990s, following demonstrations that dissociative anesthetics such as PCP and ketamine induce their unique psychotomimetic effects by binding to a site located within the ion pore of the NMDA receptor (Anis et al., 1983 Javitt et al., 1987 Javitt and Zukin, 1991). Such studies remain ongoing and provide... 

Ketamine, more commonly known on the street as Special K and to the scientist as ketamine hydrochloride, is a unique drug with a combination of pharmacological effects. Although it is primarily used by veterinarians as an animal tranquilizer, it is available for limited uses in humans. Chemically, it is similar to phencyclidine (PCP or angel dust), a Schedule II drug that was the first of a new class of general anesthetics called dissociative anesthetics. As the name implies, dissociative anesthetics produce in patients a feeling of detachment and disconnection from pain and the environment. 

Residual Effects of MDMA Anticholinergic Hallucinogens Dissociative Anesthetic Hallucinogens... 

The therapeutic effect of phencyclidine before it was discontinued for human use was dissociative anesthetic (patient is awake but detached from surroundings and is unresponsive to pain). 

Ketamine hydrochloride is a synthetic drug called a dissociative anesthetic. It is a very strong hallucinogen. Its physical effects are similar to those produced by PCP (phencyclidine). Ketamine also causes the type of visual hallucinations that are often associated with taking LSD. 

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