Tracazolate (ICI-136,753) is an anxiolyticdrug which is used in scientific research. It is a pyrazolopyridinederivative, most closely related to pyrazolopyrimidine drugs such as zaleplon, and is one of a structurally diverse group of drugs known as the nonbenzodiazepines which act at the same receptor targets as benzodiazepines but have distinct chemical structures.[1]
Tracazolate has primarily anxiolytic and anticonvulsant effects, with sedative and muscle relaxant effects only appearing at higher doses.[2] It has a unique receptor binding profile involving allosteric modulation of several GABAA receptor subtypes, being selective for GABAA receptors containing α1 and β3 subunits, but exhibiting different effects depending on the third type of subunit making up the receptor complex.[3]
^Patel JB, Malick JB, Salama AI, Goldberg ME (October 1985). "Pharmacology of pyrazolopyridines". Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior. 23 (4): 675–80. doi:10.1016/0091-3057(85)90436-8. PMID2866547. S2CID31584179.
^Patel JB, Malick JB (March 1982). "Pharmacological properties of tracazolate: a new non-benzodiazepine anxiolytic agent". European Journal of Pharmacology. 78 (3): 323–33. doi:10.1016/0014-2999(82)90034-6. PMID6121711.
^Thompson SA, Wingrove PB, Connelly L, Whiting PJ, Wafford KA (April 2002). "Tracazolate reveals a novel type of allosteric interaction with recombinant gamma-aminobutyric acid(A) receptors". Molecular Pharmacology. 61 (4): 861–9. doi:10.1124/mol.61.4.861. PMID11901225.