IUBio

OTC GABA and the Blood-Brain Barrier

F. Frank LeFever flefever at ix.netcom.com
Wed May 19 20:57:01 EST 1999


I think the most likely explanation for the reports of sedation due to
oral GABA, and one which should never be underestimated, is "placebo
effect"; perhaps acting synergistically with selective recall,
selective reporting, etc.

There is, however, another possibility which has absolutely no
empirical support (so far as I know), but is a "rational" possibility
(by way of analogy).  IL-1 also passes BBB in minuscule amounts (even
through leaky areas), but peripheral IL-1 has rapid central effects due
to the message being carried by the vagus nerve. CONCEIVABLY something
like this might happen for other substances as yet unexamined from this
perspective, including GABA.

Having had Robert Ader as a speaker at my conferencer last year (on
"Neuropsychology and the Neuroimmune Dialogue"), I am primed to add the
possibility of a (Pavlovian) conditioned response, also, perhaps on the
basis of a small "taste" via leaky areas and/or the vagus.

F. Frank LeFever, Ph.D.
New York Neuropsychology Group




In <37435EF4.1D0B at earthlink.net> Marcello Spinella
<marshmallow at earthlink.net> writes: 
>
>It's come to my attention that GABA is sold over the counter in
capsule
>form. People who I have spoken to have said that taking it has
sedative
>effects. 
>
>Textbooks adamantly state that GABA does not pass the BBB, but for it
to
>be sedating it must be getting through the "leaky" spots. This itself
>isnt so surprising, but what is surprising is that enough GABA gets
>through and survives enzyme degradation to have potent sedative
effects.
>
>Has anyone had any thoughts or experience with this?
>
>Thank you.
>
>Marcello Spinella, Ph.D.
>




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