Saripidem is a sedative and

anxiolytic An anxiolytic (; also antipanic or antianxiety agent) is a medication or other intervention that reduces anxiety. This effect is in contrast to anxiogenic agents which increase anxiety. Anxiolytic medications are used for the treatment of anxiet ...

drug in the

imidazopyridine An imidazopyridine is a nitrogen containing heterocycle that is also a class of drugs that contain this same chemical substructure. In general, they are GABAA receptor agonists, however recently proton pump inhibitors, aromatase inhibitors, NSA ...

family, which is related to the better known drugs

zolpidem Zolpidem, sold under the brand name Ambien, among others, is a medication primarily used for the short-term treatment of sleeping problems. Guidelines recommend that it be used only after cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and behavior ...

and alpidem. Saripidem has a similar pharmacological profile to the benzodiazepine family of drugs including sedative and anxiolytic properties, but its

chemical structure A chemical structure determination includes a chemist's specifying the molecular geometry and, when feasible and necessary, the electronic structure of the target molecule or other solid. Molecular geometry refers to the spatial arrangement of ...

is quite different from that of the benzodiazepine drugs, and saripidem is described as a nonbenzodiazepine. The mechanism of action by which saripidem produces its sedative and anxiolytic effects is by modulating the benzodiazepine binding site on GABA_A receptors, however unlike many older GABA_A agonists, saripidem is highly subtype selective and binds primarily to the ω1 subtype.

References

{{GABAAR PAMs Carboxamides Chloroarenes GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators Imidazopyridines Sedatives