Halogenated ether compounds and methods of inducing anesthesia

Abstract

A method of inducing anesthesia in a subject is provided. In some embodiments, the method provides administering to the subject via the respiratory system or via injection, an effective amount of a compound or a mixture of compounds selected from the group consisting of methyl-ethyl ethers, methyl-isopropyl ethers, and methyl-propyl ethers.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14 / 730,832 filed Jun. 4, 2015, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 008,355, filed Jun. 5, 2014, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.STATEMENT AS TO RIGHTS TO INVENTIONS MADE UNDER FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT[0002]This invention was made with Government support under Grant No. GM092821 awarded by the National Institutes of Health. The Government has certain rights in this invention.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0003]The present invention provides methods for inducing anesthesia or sedation in a subject by administering via the respiratory pathways (e.g., via inhalational or pulmonary delivery) an effective amount of an anesthetic compound described herein.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONMolecular Mechanisms of Anesthetic Action[0004]All general anesthetics in common cli...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This patent is about injectable anesthetics or sedatives that can be injected under the skin using a needle and syringe. These drugs can either make people insensitive to pain or decrease their sensation of pain. They can also induce an amnestic or calming effect. The patent also mentions that the drugs are mixed with a carrier or diluent which is safe and doesn't interfere with the drug's biological properties. The carrier helps deliver the drug to the body. Overall, this patent focuses on the technical effects of these drugs and their safe administration.

Problems solved by technology

A highly specific “induced fit” model between protein and ligand, as proposed for enzyme-substrate binding, (Koshland, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1958; 44: 98-104) is problematic since it implies the conservation of specific binding sites across non-homologous proteins to compounds (i.e., anesthetics) not found in nature.

The identification and selection of suitable alkyl-ethyl ether compounds as anesthetics, though, required a long, tedious, and often unsuccessful path of identifying, synthesizing, testing, and characterizing medicinal properties and testing a larger series of compound candidates by little more than trial and error, without any clear guidelines or “blaze marks” to aid the research in the selection of candidates.

Despite these past efforts and the many, predominantly disappointing outcomes, many novel or untested ether anesthetics may still be effective, and given unlimited money, time, and personnel, might be discovered and developed through the same trial and error.

However, such an approach is inefficient and generally impractical.

Without a guideline or testing means for screening through such compounds to identify the more likely successful candidates, new novel or untested anesthetic agents would likely remain unidentified indefinitely.