Propofol discovery may help lead to development of new anaesthetics

New research on the most commonly used anaesthetic drug could help unravel a long-standing mystery about how it induces a pain-free, sleep-like state. General anaesthetics are administered to tens of millions of people every year in hospitals, where they are used to sedate patients undergoing surgery. Despite this, scientists have yet to understand how the drug interacts with its targets in brain cells to achieve this effect. Following years of research on propofol, which has become the most commonly used anaesthetic since it was introduced in the 1980s, researchers at Imperial College London and Washington University School of Medicine have published a study in the journal Nature Chemical Biology in which they identify exactly how the drug acts in the brain. Researchers had already identified the receptor that propofol interacts with in the brain. Having a more detailed picture of exactly how propofol works on a molecular level may help scientists to design new versions of the drug that reduce the risks involved in surgery and ultimately improve patient safety. Propofol has also become widely known as the drug linked to the death of superstar Michael Jackson in 2009.