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Amobarbital
 
 
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Amobarbital (formerly known as amylobarbitone) is a drug that is a barbiturate
Barbiturate

Barbiturates are medication that act as central nervous system depressants, and by virtue of this they produce a wide spectrum of effects, from mild sedation to anesthesia....
 derivative. It has sedative
Sedative

A sedative is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement.At higher doses it may result in slurred speech, staggering gait , poor judgment, and slow, uncertain reflexes....
-hypnotic
Hypnotic

Hypnotic drugs induce sleep, used in the treatment of insomnia and in surgical anesthesia. Because drugs in this class generally produce dose-dependent effects, ranging from anxiolysis to production of unconsciousness, they are often referred to collectively as sedative-hypnotic drugs....
 and analgesic
Analgesic

An analgesic is any member of the diverse group of Medication used to relieve pain . The word analgesic derives from Greek an- and algos ....
 properties. It is a white crystalline powder with no odor and a slightly bitter taste. If amobarbital is taken for extended periods of time, physical and psychological dependence can develop.

rding to an in vitro
In vitro

In vitro refers to the technique of performing a given procedure in a controlled environment outside of a living organism. Some may argue that in vitro refers to a process that is created in a "test tube"; however, Robert Kail and John Cavanaugh on page 58 in the 4th edition of Human Development: A Life-Span View cite that in fact th...
 study conducted at the University of British Columbia, amobarbital works by activating GABAA receptor
GABA A receptor

The GABAA receptor is one of two Ligand-gated ion channel ion channels responsible for mediating the effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid , the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain....
s, which decreases input resistance, depresses burst
Action potential

An action potential is a self-regenerating wave of electrochemical activity that allows nerve cells to carry a signal over a distance. It is the primary electrical signal generated by nerve cells, and arises from changes in the permeability of the nerve cell's axonal Cell membranes to specific ions....
 and tonic firing
Action potential

An action potential is a self-regenerating wave of electrochemical activity that allows nerve cells to carry a signal over a distance. It is the primary electrical signal generated by nerve cells, and arises from changes in the permeability of the nerve cell's axonal Cell membranes to specific ions....
, especially in ventrobasal
Thalamus

The thalamus is a pair and symmetric part of the brain. It constitutes the main part of the diencephalon....
 and intralaminar
Thalamus

The thalamus is a pair and symmetric part of the brain. It constitutes the main part of the diencephalon....
 neuron
Neuron

Neurons are responsive cell in the nervous system that process and transmit information by electrochemical Signal . They are the core components of the brain, the vertebrate spinal cord, the invertebrate ventral nerve cord, and the peripheral nerves....
s, while at the same time increasing burst duration and mean conductance
Conductance

Conductance can refer to:*Electrical conductance*Fluid conductance*Thermal_conductivity#Thermal_Conductance*Conductance *Conductance ...
 at individual chloride channel
Chloride channel

Chloride channels are a superfamily of poorly understood ion channels consisting of approximately 13 members.Chloride channels display a variety of important physiological and cellular roles that include regulation of pH, volume homeostasis, organic solute transport, cell migration, cell proliferation and differentiation....
s; this increases both the amplitude and decay time of inhibitory postsynaptic currents.

It has an LD50
LD50

In toxicology, the median lethal dose, LD50 , or LCt50 of a toxic substance or radiation is the Dose required to kill half the members of a tested population....
 in mice of 212 mg/kg s.c.

arbital undergoes both hydroxylation
Hydroxylation

Hydroxylation is any chemistry process that introduces one or more hydroxyl groups into a compound thereby oxidation it. In biochemistry, hydroxylation reactions are often facilitated by enzymes called hydroxylases....
 to form 3'-hydroxyamobarbital, which has both levorotatory and dextrorotatory isomer
Isomer

In chemistry, isomers are compounds with the same molecular formula but different structural formulae. Isomers do not necessarily share similar properties unless they also have the same functional groups....
s and N-glucosidation
Glucoside

A glucoside is a glycoside that is derived from glucose. Glucosides are common in plants, but rare in animals. Glucose is produced when a glucoside is Hydrolysis by purely chemical means, or decomposed by fermentation or enzymes....
 to form 1-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl)amobarbital.


dium amobarbital has a reputation for having activity as a truth serum
Truth Serum

Truth Serum is an independent comic book series created, written and drawn by author John Adams ....
, where the person under the influence of the drug will submit to almost any request given by another person.






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Amobarbital (formerly known as amylobarbitone) is a drug that is a barbiturate
Barbiturate

Barbiturates are medication that act as central nervous system depressants, and by virtue of this they produce a wide spectrum of effects, from mild sedation to anesthesia....
 derivative. It has sedative
Sedative

A sedative is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement.At higher doses it may result in slurred speech, staggering gait , poor judgment, and slow, uncertain reflexes....
-hypnotic
Hypnotic

Hypnotic drugs induce sleep, used in the treatment of insomnia and in surgical anesthesia. Because drugs in this class generally produce dose-dependent effects, ranging from anxiolysis to production of unconsciousness, they are often referred to collectively as sedative-hypnotic drugs....
 and analgesic
Analgesic

An analgesic is any member of the diverse group of Medication used to relieve pain . The word analgesic derives from Greek an- and algos ....
 properties. It is a white crystalline powder with no odor and a slightly bitter taste. If amobarbital is taken for extended periods of time, physical and psychological dependence can develop.

Pharmacology

According to an in vitro
In vitro

In vitro refers to the technique of performing a given procedure in a controlled environment outside of a living organism. Some may argue that in vitro refers to a process that is created in a "test tube"; however, Robert Kail and John Cavanaugh on page 58 in the 4th edition of Human Development: A Life-Span View cite that in fact th...
 study conducted at the University of British Columbia, amobarbital works by activating GABAA receptor
GABA A receptor

The GABAA receptor is one of two Ligand-gated ion channel ion channels responsible for mediating the effects of gamma-aminobutyric acid , the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain....
s, which decreases input resistance, depresses burst
Action potential

An action potential is a self-regenerating wave of electrochemical activity that allows nerve cells to carry a signal over a distance. It is the primary electrical signal generated by nerve cells, and arises from changes in the permeability of the nerve cell's axonal Cell membranes to specific ions....
 and tonic firing
Action potential

An action potential is a self-regenerating wave of electrochemical activity that allows nerve cells to carry a signal over a distance. It is the primary electrical signal generated by nerve cells, and arises from changes in the permeability of the nerve cell's axonal Cell membranes to specific ions....
, especially in ventrobasal
Thalamus

The thalamus is a pair and symmetric part of the brain. It constitutes the main part of the diencephalon....
 and intralaminar
Thalamus

The thalamus is a pair and symmetric part of the brain. It constitutes the main part of the diencephalon....
 neuron
Neuron

Neurons are responsive cell in the nervous system that process and transmit information by electrochemical Signal . They are the core components of the brain, the vertebrate spinal cord, the invertebrate ventral nerve cord, and the peripheral nerves....
s, while at the same time increasing burst duration and mean conductance
Conductance

Conductance can refer to:*Electrical conductance*Fluid conductance*Thermal_conductivity#Thermal_Conductance*Conductance *Conductance ...
 at individual chloride channel
Chloride channel

Chloride channels are a superfamily of poorly understood ion channels consisting of approximately 13 members.Chloride channels display a variety of important physiological and cellular roles that include regulation of pH, volume homeostasis, organic solute transport, cell migration, cell proliferation and differentiation....
s; this increases both the amplitude and decay time of inhibitory postsynaptic currents.

It has an LD50
LD50

In toxicology, the median lethal dose, LD50 , or LCt50 of a toxic substance or radiation is the Dose required to kill half the members of a tested population....
 in mice of 212 mg/kg s.c.

Metabolism

Amobarbital undergoes both hydroxylation
Hydroxylation

Hydroxylation is any chemistry process that introduces one or more hydroxyl groups into a compound thereby oxidation it. In biochemistry, hydroxylation reactions are often facilitated by enzymes called hydroxylases....
 to form 3'-hydroxyamobarbital, which has both levorotatory and dextrorotatory isomer
Isomer

In chemistry, isomers are compounds with the same molecular formula but different structural formulae. Isomers do not necessarily share similar properties unless they also have the same functional groups....
s and N-glucosidation
Glucoside

A glucoside is a glycoside that is derived from glucose. Glucosides are common in plants, but rare in animals. Glucose is produced when a glucoside is Hydrolysis by purely chemical means, or decomposed by fermentation or enzymes....
 to form 1-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl)amobarbital.

Indications


Approved

  • Anxiety
    Anxiety

    Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components. These components combine to create an unpleasant feeling that is typically associated with uneasiness, fear, or worry....
  • Insomnia
    Insomnia

    Insomnia is a symptom of a sleep disorder characterized by persistent difficulty falling sleep or staying asleep despite the opportunity. Insomnia is a symptom, not a stand-alone diagnosis or a disease....
  • Epilepsy
    Epilepsy

    Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizure s. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain....


Unapproved/Off-Label

Truthserum
* Sodium amobarbital has a reputation for having activity as a truth serum
Truth Serum

Truth Serum is an independent comic book series created, written and drawn by author John Adams ....
, where the person under the influence of the drug will submit to almost any request given by another person. It has been used to convict alleged murderers such as Andres English-Howard, who strangled his girlfriend to death but claimed innocence. He was surreptitiously administered the drug, by his attorney
Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an Attorney at law, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice fraud." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver justice....
, and under the influence of it he revealed why he strangled her and under which circumstances. A year later he confessed, on the stand, and was convicted on the basis of these statements; he later committed suicide in his cell. The use of amobarbital as a truth serum has lost credibility due to the discovery that the subject can be coerced into having a 'false memory
False memory

False memory syndrome is a term coined in 1992 by the False Memory Syndrome Foundation to describe their theory that some adults who belatedly remember instances of sexual abuse from their childhood may be mistaken about the accuracy of their memory; from this, the Foundation hypothesis that the alleged false memories may have been th...
' of the event. In controlled doses, it is used in the Narco Analysis
Narco Analysis

Narco Analysis Test or Narco Test: This refers to the practice of administering barbiturates or certain other chemical substances, most often Pentothal Sodium, to lower a subject's inhibitions, in the hope that the subject will more freely share information and feelings....
 test to trace crime and criminals in modern forensics
Forensics

Forensic science is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to the legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or to a civil action....
.

  • Catatonic
    Catatonia

    Catatonia is a syndrome of psychic and motoric disturbances. Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum first described it in 1874: Die Katatonie oder das Spannungirresein ....
     mutism
    Speech disorder

    Speech disorders or speech impediments, as they are also called, are a type of communication disorders where 'normal' Manner of articulation is disrupted....
    , sometimes combined with caffeine
    Caffeine

    Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a psychoactive stimulant drug and a mild diuretic. Caffeine was discovered by a German chemist, Friedrich Ferdinand Runge, in 1819....
     to combat somnolence
    Somnolence

    Somnolence is a state of near-sleep, a strong desire for sleep, or sleeping for unusually long periods . It has two distinct meanings, referring both to the usual state preceding falling asleep, and the chronic condition referring to being in that state independent of a circadian rhythm....
    .


  • It was also used in the Battle of the Bulge
    Battle of the Bulge

    The Ardennes Offensive was a major German offensive launched towards the end of World War II through the forested Ardennes of Belgium , France and Luxembourg on the Western Front ....
     as a healing pill to send people back to the front.


Contraindications

The following drugs should be avoided when taking amobarbital:
  • Alcohol
  • Caffeine
    Caffeine

    Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that acts as a psychoactive stimulant drug and a mild diuretic. Caffeine was discovered by a German chemist, Friedrich Ferdinand Runge, in 1819....
  • Chloramphenicol
    Chloramphenicol

    Chloramphenicol is a bacteriostatic antimicrobial originally derived from the bacterium Streptomyces venezuelae, isolated by David Gottlieb, and introduced into clinical practice in 1949....
  • Chlorpromazine
    Chlorpromazine

    Chlorpromazine is a phenothiazine antipsychotic, and the oldest in the antipsychotic family of drugs. It is a typical antipsychotic. It is principally used in the treatment of schizophrenia, though it has also been used to treat severe manic episodes in people with bipolar disorder....
  • Cyclophosphamide
    Cyclophosphamide

    Cyclophosphamide , also known as cytophosphane, is a nitrogen mustard alkylating antineoplastic agent, from the oxazophorines group. It is used to treat various types of cancer and some autoimmune disorders....
  • Ciclosporin
    Ciclosporin

    Ciclosporin , cyclosporine or cyclosporin , is an immunosuppressant medication widely used in Allograft organ transplant to reduce the activity of the patient's immune system and so the risk of organ Transplant rejection....
  • Digitoxin
    Digitoxin

    Digitoxin is a cardiac glycoside. It has similar structure and effects to digoxin . Unlike digoxin , it is eliminated via the liver, so could be used in patients with poor or erratic kidney function....
  • Doxorubicin
    Doxorubicin

    Doxorubicin is a pharmaceutical used in cancer chemotherapy. It is an anthracycline antibiotic, closely related to the natural product daunorubicin, and like all anthracyclines it intercalation DNA....
  • Doxycycline
    Doxycycline

    Doxycycline is a member of the tetracycline antibiotics group and is commonly used to treat a variety of infections. Doxycycline is a semi-synthetic tetracycline invented and clinically developed in the early 1960s by Pfizer and marketed under the brand name Vibramycin....
  • Methoxyflurane
    Methoxyflurane

    Methoxyflurane is an inhalational anaesthetic used in the 1960s and early 1970s, but withdrawn because of detrimental effects on the kidneys. This was due to fluoride ions being produced by its metabolism in the kidney....
  • Metronidazole
    Metronidazole

    Metronidazole is a nitroimidazole antibiotic medication used mainly in the treatment of infections caused by susceptible organisms, particularly anaerobe bacterium and protozoa....
  • Quinine
    Quinine

    Quinine is a natural white crystalline alkaloid having antipyretic , antimalarial drug, analgesic , and anti-inflammatory properties and a bitter taste....
  • Theophylline
    Theophylline

    Theophylline, also known as dimethylxanthine, is a methylxanthine drug used in therapy for respiratory diseases such as COPD or asthma under a variety of brand names....
  • Warfarin
    Warfarin

    Warfarin is an anticoagulant. It was initially marketed as a pesticide against rats and mice, and is still popular for this purpose, although more potent poisons such as brodifacoum have since been developed....
  • Benzodiazepine
    Benzodiazepine

    The benzodiazepines are a class of psychoactive drugs with varying hypnotic, sedative, anxiolytic , anticonvulsant, muscle relaxant and anterograde amnesia properties, which are mediated by slowing down the central nervous system....
    s, such as diazepam
    Diazepam

    Diazepam , first marketed as Valium by Hoffmann-La Roche, is a benzodiazepine derivative drug. It possesses anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, hypnotic, sedative, skeletal muscle relaxant and amnestic properties....
    , clonazepam
    Clonazepam

    Clonazepam is a benzodiazepine derivative with highly potent anticonvulsant, muscle relaxant and anxiolytic properties. It is marketed by Hoffmann-La Roche under the trade-names Klonopin in the United States and Rivotril in various other English speaking countries....
     or nitrazepam
    Nitrazepam

    Nitrazepam is a type of benzodiazepine drug and is marketed in English speaking countries under the following brand names - Alodorm, Arem, Insoma, Mogadon, Nitrados, Nitrazadon, Ormodon, Paxadorm, Remnos and Somnite....
  • Antiepileptics, such as phenobarbital
    Phenobarbital

    Phenobarbital or phenobarbitone is a barbiturate, first marketed as Luminal by Bayer. It is the most widely used anticonvulsant worldwide and the oldest still commonly used....
     or carbamazepine
    Carbamazepine

    Carbamazepine is an anticonvulsant and mood stabilizer drug used primarily in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder. It is also used to treat Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, schizophrenia, phantom limb syndrome, paroxysmal extreme pain disorder, and trigeminal neuralgia....
  • Antihistamine
    Antihistamine

    An H1 antagonist is a histamine antagonist of the histamine H1 receptor that serves to reduce or eliminate effects mediated by histamine, an endogenous chemical mediator released during allergy....
    s, such as doxylamine
    Doxylamine

    Doxylamine succinate is one of the many sedating antihistamines used by itself as a short-term sedative, in combination with other drugs as a night-time common cold and allergy relief drug, and a preparation is prescribed in combination with vitamin B6 to prevent morning sickness in pregnancy women....
     and clemastine
    Clemastine

    Clemastine, also known as meclastin, is an antihistamine drug. Unlike loratadine or fexofenadine, clemastine is a sedating antihistamine, however it exhibits fewer side effects than most of the widely used antihistamines....
  • Narcotic
    Narcotic

    The term narcotic is believed to have been coined by the Greek physician Galen to refer to agents that benumb or deaden, causing loss of feeling or paralysis....
     analgesic
    Analgesic

    An analgesic is any member of the diverse group of Medication used to relieve pain . The word analgesic derives from Greek an- and algos ....
    s, such as morphine
    Morphine

    Morphine is a highly potent opiate analgesic Medication, is the principal active agent in opium, and is considered to be the prototypical opioid....
     and oxycodone
    Oxycodone

    Oxycodone is an opioid analgesic medication synthesized from opium-derived thebaine. It was developed in 1916 in Germany, as one of several new semi-synthetic opioids with several benefits over the older traditional opiates and opioids; morphine, diacetylmorphine and codeine....
  • Steroid
    Steroid

    A steroid is a terpenoid lipid characterized by a carbon skeleton with four fused rings, generally arranged in a 6-6-6-5 fashion.Steroids vary by the functional groups attached to these rings and the oxidation state of the rings....
    s, such as prednisone
    Prednisone

    Prednisone is a synthetic corticosteroid drug that is usually taken orally but can be delivered by intramuscular injection and can be used for a number of different conditions....
     and cortisone
    Cortisone

    Cortisone is a steroid hormone. Chemically, it is a corticosteroid closely related to corticosterone....
  • Antidepressant
    Antidepressant

    An antidepressant is a psychiatric medication used for alleviating major depressive disorder or dysthymia. Drug groups known as MAOIs, tricyclics, and second-generation antidepressants such as SSRIs, and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors are particularly associated with the term....
    s
  • Antihypertensive
    Antihypertensive

    Antihypertensives are a class of medication that are used in medicine and pharmacology to treat hypertension . There are many classes of antihypertensives, which?by varying means?act by lowering blood pressure....
    s, such as atenolol
    Atenolol

    Atenolol is a beta-1 receptor selective antagonist, a drug belonging to the group of beta blocker, a class of drugs used primarily in cardiovascular diseases....
     and propranolol
    Propranolol

    Propranolol is a non-selective beta blocker mainly used in the treatment of hypertension. It was the first successful beta blocker developed. It is the only drug proven effective for the prophylaxis of migraines in children....
  • Antiarrhythmics, such as verapamil
    Verapamil

    Verapamil is an L-type calcium channel blocker of the phenylalkylamine class. It has been used in the treatment of hypertension, angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, and most recently, cluster headaches....
     and digoxin
    Digoxin

    Digoxin , also known as Digitalis, is a purified cardiac glycoside extracted from the foxglove plant, Digitalis lanata. Its corresponding aglycone is digoxigenin....


Amobarbital has been known to decrease the effects of hormonal birth control, sometimes to the point of uselessness. Being chemically related to phenobarbital
Phenobarbital

Phenobarbital or phenobarbitone is a barbiturate, first marketed as Luminal by Bayer. It is the most widely used anticonvulsant worldwide and the oldest still commonly used....
, it might also do the same thing to digitoxin
Digitoxin

Digitoxin is a cardiac glycoside. It has similar structure and effects to digoxin . Unlike digoxin , it is eliminated via the liver, so could be used in patients with poor or erratic kidney function....
, a cardiac glycoside
Cardiac glycoside

Cardiac glycosides are medication used in the treatment of congestive heart failure and cardiac arrhythmia. These glycosides are found as secondary metabolites in several plants, but also in some animals....
.

In 1988, Miller et al reported that amobarbital increases benzodiazepine receptor binding in vivo
In vivo

In vivo means that which takes place inside an organism. In science, in vivo refers to experimentation done in or on the living tissue of a whole, living organism as opposed to a partial or dead one or a in vitro....
 with less potency than secobarbital
Secobarbital

Secobarbital is a barbiturate derivative drug. It possesses anaesthetic, anticonvulsant, sedative and hypnotic properties. In the United Kingdom, it was known as Quinalbarbitone....
 and pentobarbital
Pentobarbital

Pentobarbital is a short-acting barbiturate that is available as both a free acid and a sodium salt, the former of which is only slightly soluble in water and ethanol....
 (in descending order), but greater than phenobarbital and barbital
Barbital

Barbital , also called barbitone, was the first commercially marketed barbiturate. It was used as a sleeping aid from 1903 until the mid-1950s....
 (in ascending order).

Overdose

Some side effects of overdose include confusion (severe); decrease in or loss of reflexes; drowsiness (severe); fever; irritability (continuing); low body temperature; poor judgment; shortness of breath or slow or troubled breathing; slow heartbeat; slurred speech; staggering; trouble in sleeping; unusual movements of the eyes; weakness (severe). Death can be a result, as in the case of the Hollywood actor, Robert Walker.

See also

  • Depressants
  • Barbiturates
  • Wada test
    Wada test

    The Wada test, also known as the "carotid artery sodium amobarbital procedure" , is used to establish which cerebral cortex functions are localized to which cerebral hemisphere....
  • Blue 88
    Blue 88

    Blue 88 was a blue colored pill that was a mix of calming drugs, mainly barbiturates such as Amobarbital, used to treat American Soldiers in the World War II who suffered from battle fatigue....


External links