First clinical investigation of the benzodiazepine antagonist Ro 15-1788 in comatose patients.

In medical practice a number of antagonists which are capable of abolishing the effect of endogenous substances are available. The discovery of the benzodiazepine antagonist Ro 15-1788 has opened up new possibilities in the treatment and diagnosis of comas of different aetiology. This compound makes it possible to shorten the duration of unconsciousness and to eliminate selectively the effect of the benzodiazepine in an organism which has been intoxicated by different substances. The benzodiazepine antagonist Ro 15-1788 occupies the benzodiazepine receptors in the brain and, without influencing the receptor itself, prevents an active benzodiazepine from binding to this site and from exercising its pharmacological effect. On the basis of 9 clinical examples in special situations, the efficacy of treatment using the benzodiazepine antagonist is presented and discussed.