Electrophysiological methods for drug assessment

Background: Drug assessment is an important step to determine the effectiveness and safety of each compound. Any candidate substances are repeatedly tested to examine the activity and working mechanism. Drugs produce various effects through interaction with ionotropic receptors. Electrophysiological methods are used to detect such effects by monitoring the drug-ionotropic receptor interaction. Researchers are now focusing to develop simple and quick methods for drug assessment. Objective: This mini-review presents current drug assessment using electrophysiological methods, and clarifies various problems involved in the assessment.