Other Definitions
metrazol (dict)
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Metrazolright Metrazol is the commercial trademark of pentamethylenetetrazol, or pentylenetetrazol (PTZ), a drug used as a circulatory and respiratory stimulant (another commercial name is Cardiazol). Larger doses cause convulsions, thus it has been used in shock therapy, as discovered by the Hungarian-American neurologist and psychiatrist Ladislas J. Meduna in 1934. The mechanism of the epileptogenic action of PTZ at the cellular neuronal level is still unclear. Electrophysiological studies have shown it acts at cell membrane level decreasing the recovery time between action potentials by increasing potassium permeability of the axon. Other studies have implicated an increase in membrane currents of several other ions, such as sodium and calcium, leading to an overall increase in excitability of the neuron membrane. PTZ is widely used as an animal model of epilepsy for experimentation with antiepileptic drugs in the pharmaceutical industry.
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