Tenocyclidine (TCP) is a
dissociativeanesthetic with
psychostimulant effects. It was discovered by a team at
Parke-Davis in the late 1950s.[2] It is similar in effects to
phencyclidine (PCP) but is considerably more potent. TCP has slightly different binding properties to PCP, with more affinity for the
NMDA receptors,[3] but less affinity for the
sigma receptors.[4] Because of its high affinity for the PCP site of the NMDA receptor complex, the 3H
radiolabelled form of TCP is widely used in research into NMDA receptors.
TCP acts primarily as an
NMDA receptor antagonist which blocks the activity of the NMDA receptor, however its increased psychostimulant effects compared to PCP suggests it also has relatively greater activity as a
dopamine reuptake inhibitor (DRI). Due to its similarity in effects to PCP, TCP was placed into the
Schedule I list of illegal drugs in the 1970s, although it was only briefly used in the 1970s and 1980s and is now little known.[citation needed]
^Stirling JM, Cross AJ, Green AR (January 1989). "The binding of [3H]thienyl cyclohexylpiperidine ([3H]TCP) to the NMDA-phencyclidine receptor complex". Neuropharmacology. 28 (1): 1–7.
doi:
10.1016/0028-3908(89)90059-2.
PMID2538766.
S2CID35120805.
^Javitt DC, Jotkowitz A, Sircar R, Zukin SR (July 1987). "Non-competitive regulation of phencyclidine/sigma-receptors by the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist D-(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid". Neuroscience Letters. 78 (2): 193–8.
doi:
10.1016/0304-3940(87)90632-x.
PMID2888059.
S2CID20766750.