Effects of GABA Modulator AZD7325 on Cutaneous Sensation
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2016-07-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the human brain.
For years, drugs that enhance its effects (e.g., benzodiazepines such as diazepam/Valium)
have been used to treat various diseases such as epilepsy, insomnia, anxiety or movement
disorders. However, the use of these medications is often compromised because of their side
effects, such as sleepiness, memory problems, and addiction.
Therefore, effort has been made to develop drugs that act more selectively in the brain to
exert the positive therapeutic effects and are devoid of the unwanted side effects. AZD7325
is one of these drugs. It has been tested in more than 700 people and so far proved to be
generally well tolerated. Positron emission tomography (PET) study in humans demonstrated
that AZD7325 binds to GABA A receptors in the brain after a single dose. Early clinical
studies have shown that it has less sedative and cognitive adverse events as compared with a
benzodiazepine lorazepam.
The investigators now wish to evaluate if effects of AZD7325 can be objectively measured in
healthy volunteers and to establish which of the drug's outcomes could be utilised for
further studies in patients with neurological diseases.
The investigators are especially interested in the effects of AZD7325 on manual dexterity and
skin sensation of the hand. This can be assessed by a number of simple non-invasive tests of
object manipulation and detection of different sensory stimuli such as touch, vibration, or
temperature. Recent studies show that healthy individuals who performed better in similar
tasks had more GABA in relevant areas of their brain. If performance in these tasks in
healthy volunteers can be improved by enhancing GABA effects in the brain with AZD7325, this
would create the grounds for the use of this medication to treat symptoms of certain
neurological disorders in which motor control and sensation of the hand is impaired (e.g.,
polyneuropathy).