Tezampanel is a drug originally developed by Eli Lilly

Eli Lilly and Company

Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States...

 which acts as an antagonist at the AMPA

AMPA

AMPA is a compound that is a specific agonist for the AMPA receptor, where it mimics the effects of the neurotransmitter glutamate....

 and kainate families of ionotropic glutamate receptor

Glutamate receptor

Glutamate receptors are synaptic receptors located primarily on the membranes of neuronal cells. Glutamate is one of the 20 amino acids used to assemble proteins and as a result is abundant in many areas of the body, but it also functions as a neurotransmitter and is particularly abundant in the...

s, with selectivity for the GluR5 subtype of the kainate receptor. It has neuroprotective and anticonvulsant

Anticonvulsant

The anticonvulsants are a diverse group of pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of epileptic seizures. Anticonvulsants are also increasingly being used in the treatment of bipolar disorder, since many seem to act as mood stabilizers, and in the treatment of neuropathic pain. The goal of an...

 effects. The neuroprotective actions may, at least in part, occur by blocking calcium uptake into neurons.

Tezampanel has a range of effects which may be useful for medicinal purposes, as well as its applications in scientific research. It suppresses both the withdrawal symptoms from morphine

Morphine

Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...

 and other opioids, and the development of tolerance

Tachyphylaxis

Tachyphylaxis is a medical term describing a decrease in the response to a drug due to previous exposure to that drug. Increasing the dose of the drug may be able to restore the original response. In this context tachyphylaxis is a synonym for drug tolerance...

, as well as having antihyperalgesic

Hyperalgesia

Hyperalgesia is an increased sensitivity to pain, which may be caused by damage to nociceptors or peripheral nerves. Temporary increased sensitivity to pain also occurs as part of sickness behavior, the evolved response to infection.-Types:...

 and analgesic

Analgesic

An analgesic is any member of the group of drugs used to relieve pain . The word analgesic derives from Greek an- and algos ....

 effects in its own right. It also has anxiolytic

Anxiolytic

An anxiolytic is a drug used for the treatment of anxiety, and its related psychological and physical symptoms...

effects in animal studies and has been suggested as a candidate for the treatment of anxiety in humans.