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GABA agonists and gabapentin for spastic hypertonia
G E Francisco1, S Kothari, C Huls
1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine, University of Texas Sciences Center, Brain Injury Program, Institute for Rehabilitation and Research, Houston, Texas, USA.
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America
|November 29, 2001
Abstract:
Spasticity is a result of an imbalance between the afferent excitatory and descending inhibitory pathways after central nervous system damage. Its pharmacologic control is believed to result from the antagonism of inhibitory mechanisms (gamma-aminobutyric acid [GABA] or glycine-mediated antagonism of excitatory mechanisms), or both. Because GABA receptor sites are widely present in the central nervous system, it is amenable to pharmacologic manipulation.