Qualifies· moderateORCH-E031
Eger et al. 2008: no single channel, and no combination, sufficient for immobility
- what the source states
- "A paradox arises from present information concerning the mechanism(s) by which inhaled anesthetics produce immobility... two decades of focused investigation have not identified a ligand- or voltage-gated channel that alone is sufficient to mediate immobility. Opioid, 5-HT3, GABA-A and glutamate receptors, and potassium and calcium channels appear to be irrelevant or play only minor roles. Furthermore, no combination of actions on ligand- or voltage-gated channels seems sufficient."
- what we infer
- The paper's own framing is a paradox in need of a new paradigm, and its scope is immobility from inhaled agents — a spinal endpoint — not consciousness and not intravenous agents. Both readings that circulate are therefore partly wrong: it does not vindicate any alternative target (it names none, microtubules included), and it does not leave the classical account complete either, since its authors report that no known channel or combination suffices for the endpoint they studied. That unresolved residue is precisely why the exhaustive classical claim (ORCH-C004) is graded unresolved rather than supported.
- limitations
- Concerns immobility from inhaled agents; carries no direct implication for propofol-induced unconsciousness.
- A 2008 review — later work on specific targets postdates it.