β-Carboline-3-carboxylic acid ethyl ester antagonizes diazepam activity

Abstract

Analogous to the progression of events in the opiate receptor–enkephalin area, the first reports^1–3 that benzodiazepines have selective and specific high-affinity binding sites in brain have stimulated a search for the endogenous ‘ligand’ or substance that might normally act at these sites^4–9. Braestrup and co-workers have extracted from human urine a γ-fraction (ref. 10) which they have recently¹¹ identified as β-carboline-3-carboxylic acid ethyl ester (βCEE). They reported that this substance is extremely potent in displacing ³H-diazepam from brain binding sites and proposed that a β-carboline-3-carboxylic acid derivative might, in part, be the endogenous ligand for the brain benzodiazepine receptor. We have examined several synthetically derived β-carboline-3-carboxylic acid analogues and now present data obtained from testing only the βCEE described by Braestrup et al. In addition to confirming these workers' observation that this compound is a potent displacer of ³H-diazepam from brain tissue, our pharmacological data indicate that βCEE has activity that is opposite to, rather than similar to, that of diazepam.