flumazenil (Gatch 1999). Studies have also shown that flumazenil reduces seizure severity (Buck et al. 1991b) and reverses the anxiogenic-like effects (Moy et al. 1997) associated with ethanol withdrawal. While known as a benzodiazepine antagonist, flumazenil has also been shown to have some partial agonist activity (see File and Pellow 1986 for review) and the effects of partial agonists are enhanced following chronic ethanol exposure (Liang et al. 2004). These studies, as well as those involving genetically modified mice, suggest that specific GABAA receptor subtypes and/or regulation of these receptors contribute to ethanol dependence and further implicate GABAA receptors as potential therapeutic targets for treating alcoholism.
