Michael K James

Section Review: Central & Peripheral Nervous System: Remifentanil and anaesthesia for the future

Current trends toward outpatient surgery have created a demand for shorter acting anaesthetic agents. Such agents not only provide the anaesthetist with rapid patient recovery after completion of the procedure, but also with almost immediate intra-operative control over the anaesthetic state of the patient. Shorter acting anaesthetic agents are being developed in several therapeutic areas: volatile anaesthetics, neuromuscular blockers and injectable anaesthetics. Desflurane (Anaquest) and sevoflurane (Maruishi) are short acting volatile anaesthetics under development. Short acting neuromuscular blockers currently under clinical investigation, or recently introduced, include mivacurium (Wellcome) and rocuronium (Organon/Akzo). In the injectable anaesthetic area, propofol (Zeneca) has been introduced and offers some significant advantages over the previously existing induction agents, such as thiopental and methohexital. Several 4-anilidopiperdine opioid analgesics/anaesthetics are also being investigated. ...

1,4-Benzodiazepine peripheral cholecystokinin (CCK-A) receptor agonists.

A series of 1,4-benzodiazepines, N-1-substituted with an N-isopropyl-N-phenylacetamide moiety, was synthesized and screened for CCK-A agonist activity. In vitro agonist activity on isolated guinea pig gallbladder along with in vivo induction of satiety following intraperitoneal administration in a rat feeding assay was demonstrated.