Maprotiline transporters

Reboxetine is the only selective and reasonably potent noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor available clinically at the present time. Reboxetine has a chemical structure not dissimilar from viloxazine, an antidepressant which was of only limited clinical interest in the 1970s because of its weak efficacy and unacceptable side effects (nausea, vomiting and occasionally seizures). Unlike the secondary amine TCA antidepressants, such as maprotiline, desipramine, nortriptyline and protriptyline, reboxetine does not affect any other transporter or receptor system and therefore is largely devoid of TCA and SSRI-like side effects. In clinical trials, reboxetine has been shown to be as effective as the SSRIs in the... 

Since dopamine is inactivated by norepinephrine reuptake in frontal cortex, wrhich largely lacks dopamine transporters, maprotiline can thus increase dopamine neurotransmission in this part of the brain... 

Maprotiline exhibits the highest affinity and selectivity for the NE transporter (Fig. 21.6). Its antidepressant mechanism of action is similar to that of desipramine, with an onset of action of up to 2 to 3 weeks. 

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