Antidepressants specific drugs

The development of specific drugs for the treatment of depression only occurred in the early 1950s with the accidental discovery of the monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs). This period marked the beginning of the era of pharmacopsychiatry. 

Briley, M. (1998). Milnacipran, A Well-Tolerated Specific Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibiting Antidepressant, CNS Drug Reviews, 4 137-148. 

More recent developments in psychopharmacology that are of interest include atypical antipsychotic drugs, new antidepressants, specifically selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer s disease. 

However some researchers challenged the view that antidepressants were disease-specific drugs. In 1964, a psychiatrist called E.H. Hare and his colleagues published a report of a controlled trial comparing Drinamyl a widely used preparation containing barbiturates and amphetamine, with imipramine. They found no difference between the two treatments and concluded that imipramine has no specific... 

Women use herbal and dietary supplements at higher rates than men do. This rise in use of alternative therapies places women at increased risk of significant drug interactions, specifically drug-herb and drug-nutrient interactions (83 9). For instance, St. John s wort, a popular antidepressant, contains at least seven groups of chemical compounds. These include naphthodianthrons (hypericin and pseudohypericin), flavonoids (quercetin, hyperoside, and rutin). 

There is no evidence that any SSRI is more effective than another in its antidepressant efficacy. While an individual patient may respond more favorably to a specific drug, several controlled studies have shown equivalent effectiveness of these agents. However, SSRIs may be more effective than tricyclic antidepressants in some patients. The answer is (C). Anticholinergic effects common in tricyclic drug overdosage include hot dry skin, decreased bowel sounds, tachycardia, and dilated pupils. Hypotension occurs frequently owing to marked blockade at alpha adrenoceptors. The answer is (E). 

For pharmaceutical purposes 2000-3000 tonnes of amino acids are required annually worldwide. More than half of this amount ends up in infusion solutions for artificial nutrition. Many amino acid derivatives are pharmacologically important acetylcysteine is mucolytic, (L)-DOPA an active agent to combat Parkinson s disease, and Oxitriptan ((S)-5-hydroxytryptophan) is an antidepressant. Specifically substituted, (D)-configured, a- and /3-amino acids find widespread application as building blocks for drug synthesis. 

Older tricyclic antidepressants are set in italics. The specificity of action of tricyclic antidepressants (in particular of amitritpyline, imipmmine, doxepine, noitriptyline, maprotiline) is limited because at therapeutic levels ihese drugs also block receptors (H t-histamine, a,-adrenergic, muscarinic). 

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