Panadiplon (U-78875) is an

anxiolytic An anxiolytic (; also antipanic or anti-anxiety agent) is a medication or other intervention that reduces anxiety. This effect is in contrast to anxiogenic agents which increase anxiety. Anxiolytic medications are used for the treatment of anxie ...

drug with a novel

chemical structure A chemical structure of a molecule is a spatial arrangement of its atoms and their chemical bonds. Its determination includes a chemist's specifying the molecular geometry and, when feasible and necessary, the electronic structure of the target m ...

that is not closely related to other drugs of this type. It has a similar pharmacological profile to the

benzodiazepine Benzodiazepines (BZD, BDZ, BZs), colloquially known as "benzos", are a class of central nervous system (CNS) depressant, depressant drugs whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. They are prescribed t ...

family of drugs, but with mainly anxiolytic properties and relatively little

sedative A sedative or tranquilliser is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or Psychomotor agitation, excitement. They are central nervous system (CNS) Depressant, depressants and interact with brain activity, causing its decelera ...

or amnestic effect, and so is classified as a

nonbenzodiazepine Nonbenzodiazepines (), sometimes referred to colloquially as Z-drugs (as many of their names begin with the letter "z"), are a class of psychoactive, depressant, sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic drugs that are benzodiazepine-like in uses, such as f ...

anxiolytic. Panadiplon acts as a high-affinity GABA_A receptor

partial agonist In pharmacology, partial agonists are drugs that bind to and activate a given Receptor (biochemistry), receptor, but have only partial Intrinsic activity, efficacy at the receptor relative to a full agonist. They may also be considered Ligand (bio ...

, but despite showing a useful effects profile of a potent anxiolytic with little sedative effects, panadiplon was discontinued from clinical development for use in humans after showing evidence of liver damage in both animals and human trials. Panadiplon however continues to be used in animal research, mainly as a subtype-selective reference drug to compare other GABA_A agonists against.

References

{{GABAAR PAMs Sedatives Anxiolytics Hepatotoxins Oxadiazoles Lactams Cyclopropyl compounds GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators Isopropyl compounds