A library of chemical compounds that reverse the anesthetic effects of propofol.

Propofol is one of the most commonly used anesthetics in medical care. It is used to induce and maintain sedation in surgeries, ICU care,  emergency care, and other procedures. However, there currently is no pharmacological method for reversing propofol-induced sedation, meaning that doctors must wait for patients' bodies to wake from sedation naturally. This can be problematic when patients stop breathing or are slow to wake from sedation.

The inventors developed a library of compounds that antagonize the effects of propofol. In animal models these compounds produce increased arousal and reversal of propofol-induced sedation. Furthermore, these compounds are effective at dosages of a non-lethal level to the animal.

• Drug compounds antagonize propofol across a wide range of propofol dosages 
• Effective at a dosage less than an order of magnitude lower than LD50
• Many more variations of this compound can be synthesized and tested