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The MOVE Fire

This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985 Philadelphia police fired thousands of rounds at the MOVE house, city officials approved dropping an explosive device on the roof, the resulting fire was allowed to burn, 11 people—including five children—died, and 61 homes were destroyed. Philadelphia City Council later called it a “brutal attack carried out by the City of Philadelphia on its own citizens” and acknowledged that no individual faced criminal consequences for the bombing. One timeline correction worth preserving for the BHP record: the major previous MOVE-police confrontation was August 8, 1978, about seven years before the bombing, not a year or two earlier. Officer James Ramp was killed, other police and firefighters were wounded, nine MOVE members were later convicted, and television cameras recorded police beating Delbert Africa during his arrest. The 1985 MOVE Commission later specifically criticized city planners for failing to adequately use lessons from that 1978 confrontation. And that actually strengthens the point you’re making: 1985 did not happen without precedent or institutional memory. There had already been a deadly confrontation with MOVE, years of conflict, negotiations and police involvement before Osage Avenue.

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BLACK FACTS
The Truths They Never Taught You...

Shirley Chisholm — Unbought and Unbossed

In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.

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Wikipedia

Progabide

Progabide
Clinical data
Trade namesGabrene, Gabren
Other namesSL-76.002; SL-76002; SL76002; Halogabide
Routes of
administration
Oral[1]
Drug classGABA receptor agonist; GABAA and GABAB receptor agonist; GABA prodrug
ATC code
Legal status
Legal status
  • In general: ℞ (Prescription only)
Pharmacokinetic data
MetabolitesProgabide acid (SL-75.102), gabamide, GABA[1]
Elimination half-life10–12 hours[1]
Identifiers
  • 4-[(4-Chlorophenyl)-(5-fluoro-2-hydroxy-phenyl)-methylidene]aminobutanamide
CAS Number
PubChem CID
DrugBank
ChemSpider
UNII
ChEMBL
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)
ECHA InfoCard100.057.872 Edit this at Wikidata
Chemical and physical data
FormulaC17H16ClFN2O2
Molar mass334.78 g·mol−1
3D model (JSmol)
  • Clc1ccc(cc1)/C(=N\CCCC(N)=O)c2cc(F)ccc2O
  • InChI=1S/C17H16ClFN2O2/c18-12-5-3-11(4-6-12)17(21-9-1-2-16(20)23)14-10-13(19)7-8-15(14)22/h3-8,10,22H,1-2,9H2,(H2,20,23)/b21-17+ checkY
  • Key:IBALRBWGSVJPAP-HEHNFIMWSA-N checkY
  (verify)

Progabide, sold under the brand name Gabrene, is a GABA receptor agonist which is used in the treatment of epilepsy.[1] It is an analogue of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and acts both via a metabolite and as a prodrug of GABA, in turn behaving as an agonist of the GABA receptors.[2][3]

Uses

[edit]

Progabide was approved in France for either monotherapy or adjunctive use in the treatment of epilepsy—specifically, generalized tonic–clonic, myoclonic, partial, and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome seizures—in both children and adults.[4][3][additional citation(s) needed].. it was completely withdrawn in France in 1999 [5] because of its high Hepatotoxicity[6]

Side effects

[edit]

Side effects of progabide include drowsiness, insomnia, and nausea.[1] Less frequent side effects have been reported to include diaphoresis, malaise, gastralgia, somnolence, pruritus, urticaria, darkening of urine, and elevated liver enzymes.[1] The drug has been associated with liver toxicity.[7]

Pharmacology

[edit]

Progabide acts as a non-selective GABA receptor agonist, including of both the GABAA and GABAB receptors.[8][3][1][9][10] It is a GABA receptor agonist itself but also metabolizes into the more potent GABA receptor agonist progabide acid (SL-75.102).[8][3][1][2] In addition, progabide and progabide acid are metabolized into gabamide and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which act as GABA receptor agonists as well.[8][1][2] Progabide crosses the blood–brain barrier, whereas gabamide and GABA do not, but progabide form gabamide and GABA within the brain.[8][1][2] The drug and its metabolites are selective for GABA receptors and do not interact with various other neurotransmitter receptors, nor do they affect GABA reuptake, GABA release, or GABA transaminase.[8][1] As such, progabide is a centrally active and pure GABA receptor agonist that acts in part via active metabolites including progabide acid, gabamide, and GABA.[8][1]

The drug produces anticonvulsant effects in animals, but findings in humans have been more mixed.[3][1][9][10] It is not known to produce some of the undesirable effects observed with other GABAA receptor agonists like muscimol such as myoclonus and psychological disturbances.[3] This might be partly due to the lower potency of progabide compared to muscimol.[3]

Progabide reaches peak levels after 2 to 3 hours with oral administration in humans.[1] Steady-state levels are reached after 2 to 4 days of repeated administration.[1] Its elimination half-life is 10 to 12 hours.[1] The drug is extensively metabolized, with only trace amounts of progabide being recovered in urine.[1][2]

Chemistry

[edit]

Progabide is a synthetic compound defined as the Schiff base of γ-aminobutyramide and a substituted benzophenone.[1][2]

Synthesis

[edit]
Progabide synthesis: C Berthier, J. P. Allaigre, and J. Debois, French Demande, FR 2553763  (1985).

History

[edit]

Progabide was first described in the literature by at least 1979[8][11][12] and was introduced for medical use in France by 1985.[12] It was developed and marketed by Dausse-Synthelabo in France.[12][4] The drug was also in clinical trials in the United States and elsewhere in Europe, but ultimately does not appear to have been ever marketed outside of France.[1][4] Its adoption was limited by poor clinical effectiveness and incidence of liver toxicity.[7]

Society and culture

[edit]

Names

[edit]

Progabide is the generic name of the drug and its INNTooltip International Nonproprietary Name, USANTooltip United States Adopted Name, BANTooltip British Approved Name, and DCFTooltip Dénomination Commune Française.[11][4] It is also known by its former developmental code name SL-76.002 or SL-76002, by its brand name Gabrene or Gabren, and by its synonym halogabide.[11][4]

Availability

[edit]

Progabide was marketed only in France as of 2000.[4][3]

Research

[edit]

Progabide has been investigated for many conditions besides epilepsy, including Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, clinical depression, anxiety disorders, and spasticity, with various levels of success.[1][additional citation(s) needed]

In 1987, Bartolini and colleagues reported progabide's actions on dopamine to be contradictory, decreasing dopamine release, dopamine receptor density and postsynaptic dopamine receptor responsivity while reducing striatal cholinergic activity so as to increase dopaminergic signaling.[13] Bartholini and colleagues concluded that it was this that caused Parkinson's patients in clinical trials to either see an improvement in their Parkinson's with a worsening of levodopa-induced dyskinesia or an improvement in dyskinesia but with sometimes aggravated Parkinson's symptoms.[13] The cholinergic effect takes only a single injection to achieve in rats; when given with haloperidol, the development of tolerance to haloperidol's cataleptic effects did not develop.[14] It was hoped that this would be effective for tardive dyskinesia. However, Soares, Rathbone and Deeks wrote in the 2004 issue of The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews that "Any possible benefits are likely to be outweighed by the adverse effects associated with their [GABAergic agents'] use."[15]

In addition to being tested for antipsychotic-induced tardive dyskinesia, progabide was itself tested as an antipsychotic; as early as 1979, it was obvious that it was ineffective for psychosis.[16] While progabide may have been devoid of antipsychotic effects, it did have the effect in schizoaffective and hebephrenic patients of improving environmental responsiveness and social interactions.[17]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Bergmann KJ (1985). "Progabide: a new GABA-mimetic agent in clinical use". Clin Neuropharmacol. 8 (1): 13–26. doi:10.1097/00002826-198503000-00002. PMID 2983890. Progabide, a new synthetic compound defined as the Schiff base of gamma-aminobutyramide and a substituted benzophenone, has been developed. Well absorbed, and relatively free of toxicity, it is both a direct GABA receptor agonist as well as an exogenous source of GABA. [...]
  2. ^ a b c d e f Shek, Efraim (1994). "Chemical delivery systems and prodrugs of anticonvulsive drugs". Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. 14 (2–3): 227–241. doi:10.1016/0169-409X(94)90041-8. Progabide (Fig. 6) is a GABA receptor agonist; however, it is also a pro-drug slowly releasing GABA [45]. The immediate onset of action is explained by the agonist properties of progabide while its ability to release GABA accounts for the duration of action. Chemically, progabide is a Schiff base obtained from γ-aminobutyramide and a substituted benzophenone. Man and animal metabolize progabide extensively. Only very small amounts of the administered drug can be found in urine [39]. Progabide can convert to the acid analog SL-75102 by hydrolysis, by oxidative deamination, or by transamination. By cleavage of the imine bond, progabide and SL-75102 can release GABA-mide or GABA, respectively. The enzymatic system capable of imine bond cleavage has not been identified. Yet it must be present, because both GABA and GABA-mide are found in the brain after administration of progabide to rats.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Taylor, Charles P. (1990). "GABA receptors and GABAergic synapses as targets for drug development". Drug Development Research. 21 (3): 151–160. doi:10.1002/ddr.430210302. ISSN 0272-4391. Retrieved 5 October 2025. GABA PRODRUGS: Progabide was made as a prodrug of GABA and also has a metabolite that is a potent GABA agonist. It has anticonvulsant effects in several animal models [Bartholini et al., 1985; Morselli et al., 19861, but clinical trials have produced mixed results [Chadwick, 1990]. As of this writing, progabide is available only in France for treatment of seizures, and is of continued interest as a pharmacological tool. It is interesting that some of the undesired neurological and behavioral effects of GABA, agonists such as muscimol (myoclonus, psychological disturbances) have not been reported with progabide; this may partly be due to progabide's lower potency relative to muscimol.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Schweizerischer Apotheker-Verein (2000). Index Nominum 2000: International Drug Directory. Index nominum. Medpharm Scientific Publishers. p. 880. ISBN 978-3-88763-075-1. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  5. ^ "Autorisation - Minigraphie". Agence-prd.ansm.sante.fr. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  6. ^ "*Anti-épileptiques : Les Points essentiels". Pharmacomedicale.org. Retrieved June 11, 2026.
  7. ^ a b Perucca E, White HS, Bialer M (September 2023). "New GABA-Targeting Therapies for the Treatment of Seizures and Epilepsy: II. Treatments in Clinical Development". CNS Drugs. 37 (9): 781–795. doi:10.1007/s40263-023-01025-4. PMC 10501930. PMID 37603261. Although many of the currently marketed [antiseizure medications (ASMs)] act on the GABA system (Table 1), only three of those, namely vigabatrin, tiagabine and ganaxolone, were rationally designed to exert a GABAergic effect. A fourth rationally designed compound, progabide, was developed in the 1980s as a GABA prodrug but never became established because of disappointing clinical efficacy results and the propensity to cause liver toxicity [101,102,103,104].
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Bartholini, G. (1981). "Present Knowledge of GABA Receptor Agonists". Medicinal Chemistry Advances. Elsevier. pp. 345–353. doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-025297-1.50032-5. ISBN 978-0-08-025297-1. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  9. ^ a b Paredes RG, Agmo A (1992). "GABA and behavior: the role of receptor subtypes". Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 16 (2): 145–170. doi:10.1016/s0149-7634(05)80177-0. PMID 1321392. The mixed GABA-A-GABA-B agonist, progabide, has also shown limited success as an anticonvulsant. Although there are some reports describing clinically useful antiepileptic activity of this compound (197), high doses of progabide are required for significant reduction of symptoms in epileptic patients (187). Moreover, the attenuation of convulsive responses in animal models after progabide administration occurred only at doses that also produced sedation and ataxia (174,287).
  10. ^ a b Meldrum BS (1989). "GABAergic mechanisms in the pathogenesis and treatment of epilepsy". Br J Clin Pharmacol. 27 Suppl 1 (Suppl 1): 3S–11S. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2125.1989.tb03454.x. PMC 1379672. PMID 2667605. Progabide is a GABA receptor agonist acting on both GABAA and GABAB receptors, and is metabolised in the brain to yield SL 75102 (a more potent GABA agonist than progabide) and to GABA itself (Lloyd et al., 1982). It is by no means certain that progabide acts by enhancing GABAergic transmission: in some test systems it mimics the action of phenytoin rather than that of muscimol (Fromm et al., 1985). Progabide is anticonvulsant in a wide range of rodent models of epilepsy (Worms et al., 1982) and has some efficacy in man.
  11. ^ a b c Elks, J. (14 November 2014). The Dictionary of Drugs: Chemical Data: Chemical Data, Structures and Bibliographies. Springer. ISBN 978-1-4757-2085-3. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  12. ^ a b c "Progabide: world first Introduction of this anticonvulsant by Dausse-Synthelabo in France". InPharma. 515 (1): 19–20. 1985. doi:10.1007/BF03313499. ISSN 0156-2703. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
  13. ^ a b Bartholini G, Scatton B, Zivkovic B, Lloyd KG (1987). "GABA receptor agonists and extrapyramidal motor function: therapeutic implications for Parkinson's disease". Advances in Neurology. 45: 79–83. PMID 3030072.
  14. ^ Bartholini G, Scatton B, Zivkovic B (1980). "Effect of the new gamma-aminobutyric acid agonist SL 76 002 on striatal acetylcholine: relation to neuroleptic-induced extrapyramidal alterations". Advances in Biochemical Psychopharmacology. 24: 207–13. PMID 6105775.
  15. ^ Soares K, Rathbone J, Deeks J (October 2004). Soares-Weiser K (ed.). "Gamma-aminobutyric acid agonists for neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (4) CD000203. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD000203.pub2. PMID 15494993.
  16. ^ Bartholini G (1979). "[Potential therapeutic activity of GABA-mimetic drugs in neuropsychiatry]". Schweizer Archiv für Neurologie, Neurochirurgie und Psychiatrie = Archives Suisses de Neurologie, Neurochirurgie et de Psychiatrie. 125 (2): 265–9. PMID 45343. (French)
  17. ^ Lloyd KG, Morselli PL, Depoortere H, Fournier V, Zivkovic B, Scatton B, et al. (June 1983). "The potential use of GABA agonists in psychiatric disorders: evidence from studies with progabide in animal models and clinical trials". Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior. 18 (6): 957–66. doi:10.1016/S0091-3057(83)80021-5. PMID 6351106. S2CID 21297834.

Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.

Wikipedia

Progabide

Progabide, sold under the brand name Gabrene, is a GABA receptor agonist which is used in the treatment of epilepsy. It is an analogue of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and acts both via a metabolite and as a prodrug of GABA, in turn behaving as an agonist of the GABA receptors.

MORE →
Wikipedia

Tolgabide

Tolgabide (INN; development code SL-81.0142) is a drug which was patented by Synthélabo as an anticonvulsant but was never marketed. It is an analogue of progabide and acts similarly to it as a prodrug of GABA, and therefore as an indirect agonist of the GABA receptors.

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Wikipedia

SL-75102

Progabide acid, also known as SL-75.102, is a GABA receptor agonist and an active metabolite of the anticonvulsant drug progabide.

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Wikipedia

GABAA receptor agonist

A GABAA receptor agonist is a drug that acts as an orthosteric agonist of the GABAA receptor, the major signaling receptor of the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The mechanism of action of GABAA receptor agonists is unlike that of GABAA positive allosteric modulators, including benzodiazepines, Z drugs, barbiturates, neurosteroids, and alcohol, which instead act via allosteric regulatory sites to potentiate GABAA receptor function. GABAA receptor agonists have different effects from those of GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators. Examples of GABAA receptor agonists include GABA itself, γ-amino-β-hydroxybutyric acid (GABOB), muscimol (found in Amanita muscaria mushrooms), gaboxadol (THIP), and progabide, among others. High-efficacy GABAA receptor agonists have been found to produce sedative, hypnotic, anticonvulsant, and hallucinogenic effects, among others. The structural requirements for GABAA receptor binding and activation have been found to be very strict, so relatively few high-efficacy GABAA receptor agonists are known. No fully selective GABAA receptor agonists, for instance lacking any additional activity at the closely related GABAA-ρ and/or GABAB receptors, are currently known. GABAA receptor agonists are generally GABA analogues and derivatives. Muscimol, a conformationally restrained analogue of GABA, was among the first GABAA receptor agonists to be identified.

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TOPIC OF THE DAY

Greenwood / Black Wall Street

Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.

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TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE DAY

Who was the first African-American woman millionaire in the United States?

Madam C.J. Walker