The common use of anxiolytic drugs like diazepam has been been established for the treatment of anxiety disorders. While its use is considered relatively safe for short-term use, its long-term use may yield problematic outcomes.
According to Nature Neuroscience, long-term use of diazepam may result in physical dependency and cognitive impairments among older people.
The study’s authors explain how immune cells of the brain called microglia play a major role in degrading and recycling synapses during brain development and in cognitive disorders upon use of diazepam.
In rodents, experimentation shows that diazepam use could impair the structural plasticity of dendritic spines, resulting in cognitive impairment.
“Diazepam induces these deficits via the mitochondrial 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO), rather than classical γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors, which alters microglial morphology, and phagocytosis of synaptic material,” the study states.
“Collectively, our findings demonstrate a mechanism by which TSPO ligands alter synaptic plasticity and, as a consequence, cause cognitive impairment.”