Imipramine antidepressant

Prange AJ, Wilson 1C, Rabon AM, et al Enhancement of imipramine antidepressant activity by thyroid hormone. Am J Psychiatry 126 457-468, 1969... 

Physostigmine, given intravenously, counteracts both the peripheral and central side effects of atropine and other anticholinergic drugs such as thioridazine (neuroleptic), imipramine (antidepressant), and benztropine (antiparkinsonian medication). 

Clinically important, potentially hazardous interactions with alcohol, amiodarone, amphotericin B, cisapride, clonidine, digitalis, diltiazem, disopyramide, erythromycin, glucocorticoids, halofantrine, haloperidol, hypokalemic diruretics, imipramine antidepressants, levodopa, lithium, pentamidine, pimozide, quinidine, sotalol, stimulant laxatives, tetracosactides, thioridazine... 

Hyoscine - premedication antimuscarinic to inhibit gastric secretion and intestinal motility prior to gastrointestinal imaging Ibuprofen - non-steroidal anti-inflammatory dmg Imipramine - antidepressant Indinavir - antiviral HIV... 

Determination of Imipraminic Antidepressants in Urine by Gas-Phase and Thin-Layer Chromatography Ann. Pharm. Fr. 30(966) 445-457 (1972) CA 77 159971d... 

Miscellaneous. The iminostilbene carbama2epiae [294-46-4] congener of the tricycHc antidepressant, imipramine. 

Trigclic Antidepressants. Imipramine (38) was introduced in the late 1950s as one of the first pharmacotherapies for depression. At that time, chlorproma2ine [50-53-3] was the first effective antipsychotic treatment to be discovered. Researchers looked for similar chemical stmctures and imipramine was found to be effective in the symptomatic treatment of depression. Over the years, other congeners, such as desipramine (39), amitriptyline (40), and dothiepin (41), were synthesized and shown to be clinically efficacious antidepressant dmgs (121). These substances, known under the general mbric of tricycHc antidepressants, share a basic chemical stmcture comprising... 

Tricyclic Antidepressants. Imipramine [50-49-7] (32), which was the first tricycHc antidepressant to be developed, is one of many useful psychoactive compounds derived from systematic molecular modifications of the antihistamine prometha2ine [60-87-7] (see Histamine and histamine antagonists). The sulfur atom of prometha2ine was replaced with an ethylene bridge and the dimethylamino group attached to an / -propyl group, rather than to an isopropyl one, of the side chain. The actual synthesis of (32) is typical of the compounds in this class (37). 

Selected for clinical trials as a compound to calm agitated patients, imipramine was relatively ineffective. However, it was observed to be effective in the treatment of certain depressed patients (38). Early studies on the mechanism of action showed that imipramine potentiates the effects of the catecholamines, primarily norepinephrine. This finding, along with other evidence, led to the hypothesis that the compound exerts its antidepressant effects by elevating norepinephrine levels at central adrenergic synapses. Subsequent studies have shown that the compound is a potent inhibitor of norepinephrine reuptake and, to a lesser extent, the uptake of serotonin, thus fitting the hypothesis that had been developed to explain the antidepressant actions ofMAOIs. 

Research for an antidepressant among non-tricyclic compounds with pharmacological effects qualitatively different from those of the conventional tricyclic compounds led to the preparation and testing of a series of indazole derivatives for reserpine-like activity in mice. l-[3-(Dimethylamino)propyl]-5-methyl-3-phenyl-l//-indazole (FS-32 692) antagonizes reserpine-induced effects and potentiates amphetamine-induced self-stimulation and l-Dopa-induced increase in motor activity. FS-32 produces an anticholinergic action mainly on the central nervous System, while the action of imipramine occurs centrally as well as peripherally (79AF511). 

The widely used tricyclic antidepressant drugs such as imipramine and amitriptyptiline have in common a series of... 

Most of the widely used antidepressants are tricyclics related to imipramine. A 1-phenyltetrahy-droisoquinoline analogue, nomifensine (60), departs from this structural pattern. Hiarmacologi-cally it inhibits the reuptake of catecholamines such as dopamine at neurons. It can be synthesized by alkylation of 2-nitrobenzyl-methylamine with phenacyl bromide followed by catalytic reduction of the nitro group (Pd-C) and then hydride reduction of the keto moiety to give 59. Strong acid treatment leads to cyclodehydration to nomifensine (60) [17]. 

Antidepressant activity is retained when the two carbon bridge in imipramine is replaced by a larger, more complex, function. Nucleophilic aromatic substitution on chloropyridine 31 by means of p-aminobenzophenone (32) gives the bicyclic intermediate 33. Reduction of the nitro group (34), followed by intramolecular Schiff base formation gives the required heterocyclic ring system 35. Alkylation of the anion from 35 with l-dimethylamino-3-chloropropane leads to tampramine 36 [8]. 

Figure 15.3 Separation of tricyclic antidepressants by using multidimensional LC-LC. Peak identification is as follows DOX, doxepin DES, desipramine NOR, noitryptylene IMI, imipramine AMI, amiti yptyline. Adapted from Journal of Chromatography, 507, J. V. Posluszny et al., Optimization of multidimensional high-performance liquid cliromatography for the deterTnination of drugs in plasma by direct injection, micellar cleanup and photodiode array detection , pp. 267 - 276, copyright 1990, with permission from Elsevier Science.

Antidepressants are used in the treatment of neuropathic pain and headache. They include the classic tricyclic compounds and are divided into nonselective nor-adrenaline/5-HT reuptake inhibitors (e.g., amitriptyline, imipramine, clomipramine, venlafaxine), preferential noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (e.g., desipramine, nortriptyline) and selective 5-HT reuptake inhibitors (e.g., citalopram, paroxetine, fluoxetine). The reuptake block leads to a stimulation of endogenous monoaminer-gic pain inhibition in the spinal cord and brain. In addition, tricyclics have NMDA receptor antagonist, endogenous opioid enhancing, Na+ channel blocking, and K+ channel opening effects which can suppress peripheral and central sensitization. Block of cardiac ion channels by tricyclics can lead to life-threatening arrhythmias. The selective 5-HT transporter inhibitors have a different side effect profile and are safer in cases of overdose [3]. 

Older- tricyclic antidepressants are set in italics. The specificity of action of tricyclic antidepressants (in particular of amitritpyline, imipramine, doxepine, nortriptyline, duloxetine, maprotiline) is limited because at therapeutic levels these drugs also block recqDtors (Hrhistamine, aradrenergic, muscarinic). 

Ciraulo DA, Jaffe JH Tricyclic antidepressants in the treatment of depression associated with alcoholism. Clin Psychopharmacol 1 146—150, 1981 Ciraulo DA, Nace E Benzodiazepine treatment of anxiety or insomnia in substance abuse patients. Am J Addict 9 276—284, 2000 Ciraulo DA, Barnhill JG, Jaffe JH, et al Intravenous pharmacokinetics of 2-hydroxy-imipramine in alcoholics and normal controls. J StudAlcohol 51 366-372, 1990 Ciraulo DA, Knapp CM, LoCastro J, et al A benzodiazepine mood effect scale reliability and validity determined for alcohol-dependent subjects and adults with a parental history of alcoholism. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 27 339—347, 2001 Collins MA Tetrahydropapaveroline in Parkinson s disease and alcoholism a look back in honor of Merton Sandler. Neurotoxicology 25 117-120, 2004 COMBINE Study Research Group Testing combined pharmacotherapies and behavioral interventions in alcohol dependence rationale and methods. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 27 1107-1122, 2003a... 

Antidepressants Desipramine, imipramine, sertraline, fluoxetine, paroxetine, venlafaxine, bupropion, nefazodone, mirtazapine, gepirone, amineptine Mixed findings suggest that better designed studies may find a niche for some of these drugs. Amineptine was effective for withdrawal symptoms. 

The tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) derive their name from their three-ringed molecular structure (Fig. 20.3) and emerged, in 1958, from a search for better neuroleptics than chlopromazine among the phenothiazines. The prototype, imipramine, turned out to be ineffective in treating the positive symptoms experienced by schizophrenics but it did relieve their depression (negative symptoms). In fact, imipramine is still the standard agent against which novel antidepressants are compared in clinical trials. 

All TCAs are either secondary- or tertiary-amines of a dibenzazepine nucleus (Fig. 20.3), and they all inhibit neuronal reuptake of noradrenaline and/or 5-HT but are much less potent as dopamine reuptake blockers. A common claim is that secondary amines (e.g. desipramine) are preferential inhibitors of noradrenaline uptake whereas the tertiary derivatives (e.g. imipramine, doxepin and amitryptyline) preferentially inhibit 5-HT uptake. However, when Richelson and Pfenning (1984) actually compared the effects of a wide range of antidepressants on the synaptosomal uptake of [ H]monoamines in vitro, and compared their A s, instead of merely ranking /C50S collected from different studies, they found that tertiary- and secondary-substituted compounds were equi-potent inhibitors of [ H]noradrenaline uptake. Moreover, all the TCAs turned out to be more potent inhibitors of [ H]noradrenaline than of [ H]5-HT uptake. Tertiary amines are even less convincing inhibitors of 5-HT reuptake in vivo, because any such action is diminished by their metabolism to secondary amines (e.g. imipramine to desipramine amitriptyline to nortriptyline). Only clomipramine retains any appreciable 5-HT uptake blocking activity in vivo with (an unimpressive) five-fold selectivity for 5-HT versus noradrenaline. 

Set against this background is the finding that the inhibition of [ H]noradrenaline uptake by the neuroleptic, chlorpromazine, is even greater than that of imipramine and yet chlorpromazine has no apparent antidepressant effects. This serves as a testimony... 

Imipramine treatment resulted in a higher rate of remission of anxiety symptoms than trazodone, diazepam, or placebo (e.g., 73% versus 69% versus 66% versus 47%) in an 8-week controlled trial of DSM-III-diagnosed GAD patients. Antidepressants were more effective than diazepam or placebo in reducing psychic symptoms of anxiety. The use of TCAs generally is limited by bothersome adverse effects (e.g., sedation, orthostatic hypotension, anticholinergic effects, and weight gain). 

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