Lunesta shares its mechanism of action with the benzodiazepenes - Valium, Rohypnol, Xanax, etc. It doesn't actually belong to the benzodiazepene class of drugs, but they all work on the same system - GABA. Not coincidentally, the much-maligned GHB works by virtue of the fact that it is metabolized to GABA in vivo.
Lunesta belongs to a class of drugs that work similarly to benzodiazepenes but in such a way that they have a lower (but still nonzero) potential for abuse and dependency.
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Is it just me or is that something a chemist would not want to put in his mouth? 4-methyl-2-aminopyridine has cardiac adrenergic effects.
So eszopiclone is a pretty damned good sedative/hypnotic, but with very little anxiolytic effect. I believe that's why it has less potential for abuse. BUT, it's metabolite N-desmethyl-(S)-zopiclone actually works at different subunits of the GABAa receptor, making it a pretty effective anxiolytic but not such a great sedative. I think a blind taste test of zop- and desmethylzop- is in order!
I am pretty sure that GHB is not metabolized to GABA, it is mearly an analog
I admit to some ignorance on this, but a quick medline search returns a recent article that at least partially supports the assertion.
I'm glad to be corrected on this (and I can't recall a citation to where I learned this, even a textbook) - anyone, please let me know if you can clear this up.
I took a pharma class and I asked if GHB was a GABA agonist, and the professor said that surprisingly, it is not a direct agonist (mimic of GABA). I'm not sure how it works though....
what does it mean if it keeps the patient up longer than before and acts more as a stimulant than a sedative?