How do benzodiazepines stop a seizure? · Grey Matter

Benzodiazepines bind GABA-A receptors at a site between an alpha and a gamma subunit, apart from where GABA binds, and make GABA open the channel more often.

How do benzodiazepines stop a seizure?

Benzodiazepines bind GABA-A receptors at a site between an alpha and a gamma subunit, apart from where GABA binds, and make GABA open the channel more often. They amplify the inhibition the interneurons are already delivering and need GABA present to act, which is why they are relatively safe on their own and why they act fast in an emergency. Stronger inhibition restores the brake on the synchronised firing of a seizure. Their limits follow from the same mechanism: receptors are internalised during prolonged seizures, so the drugs work best given early, and where chloride has built up inside neurons GABA itself inhibits less.