Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Amoxapine possesses a broad spectrum of psychotropic actions, including antidepressant and neuroleptic effects in animals. Antidepressant activity is characterized by its ability to inhibit tetrabenazine-induced depression, antagonize reserpine-induced hypothermia and enhance yohimbine lethality. Neuroleptic activity is demonstrated by the ability of amoxapine to decrease locomotor activity, induce ptosis and catalepsy, inhibit apomorphine gnawing and amphetamine stereotyped behavior and by characteristic changes in monkey discriminated avoidance behavior. The fact that punished responding in squirrel monkeys was present was present after repeated administration may indicate an anti-anxiety action of this drug. Evidence is offered that the conversion of the tertiary terminal nitrogen to a secondary amine may alter the pharmacologica properties of dibenzoxazepines in a similar way to the for the phenothiazines.
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PMID:The neuropharmacological actions of amoxapine. 2 99

Affective illness is common, frequently debilitating, and sometimes life-threatening in the elderly. Considerations pertaining to treatment with heterocyclic drugs, MAOIs, lithium, psychostimulants and thyroid hormone, as well as ECT, have been reviewed. Amitriptyline and imipramine cause significant orthostatic hypotension and probably should be avoided in the elderly. In addition, amitriptyline is extremely anticholinergic. Amoxapine is essentially a neuroleptic sequelae, including tardive dyskinesia. If a patient has had a prior positive response or has a relative who had a good outcome from a particular drug, it may be best to begin treatment with that drug. Initial choice of antidepressant can be based largely on the clinical picture. For example, if a depressed patient is sleeping much more than usual, try a potentially activating agent like desipramine or protriptyline. if, on the other hand, the patient is unable to sleep, a more sedating agent like nortriptyline, maprotiline, trimipramine, or trazodone should be tried. Risks and side effects of these drugs, as well as their use in cardiac patients, have been reviewed in detail. Many clinicians avoid MAOIs in elderly patients because of fear of adverse reactions. This fear is largely unfounded. Precautions, side effects, and specific recommendations have been outlined. Using lithium in the elderly requires special precautions because of decreased GFR and potential interactions with concomitantly used drugs. This paper has discussed possible side effects and toxicity. The usage of psychostimulants, such as methylphenidate and amphetamine, to treat medically ill depressed patients is reviewed. These agents are also sometimes useful in demented individuals or in patients with abulic frontal lobe syndromes. Poststroke depressions are common, and recent evidence indicates that they can be adequately treated. Stroke patients have many difficulties dealing with rehabilitation and should not be forced to suffer concomitant depression when we have the tools at hand to effectively treat such symptoms. Recent data on the potentiation of antidepressant effects by lithium or T3 indicate that they may be useful adjuvants in some tricyclic-resistant patients. Risks, side effects, and recent procedural advances in the use of ECT have been reviewed. Electroconvulsive therapy is both more effective and faster-acting than drugs in the treatment of depression. Many depressed elderly patients, especially those with psychotic symptoms, do not respond to drugs but improve with ECT.
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PMID:Treatment of affective illness in the elderly with drugs and electroconvulsive therapy. 269 55

Amoxapine, a member of the dibenzoxazepine drugs which includes loxapine, has recently been introduced for the treatment of depression. We present five cases of amoxapine failure after an initial good response, which showed severe deterioration with an increase in dosage. The dopamine-blocking effects of amoxapine metabolites are discussed. The mechanism of failure may be related to either the appearance of akinetic depression or a strong neuroleptic effect.
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PMID:Amoxapine failure--a neuroleptic property? 614 11

Amoxapine (Asendin), a recently introduced dibenzoxazepine, has been effective in clinical studies for the treatment of various types of depression. Three amoxapine-related deaths are reported. Quantitation of amoxapine was carried out by gas chromatography using 3% OV-17 column. Blood amoxapine concentrations were 11.5 mg/l, 2.8 mg/l, and 0.89 mg/l. The concentrations are many-fold higher than the reported therapeutic serum concentrations of 0.21 mg/l. These cases illustrate the potential toxicity and lethality of amoxapine overdose and the need for caution in prescribing a large amount of amoxapine to patients with suicidal tendencies.
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PMID:Amoxapine fatalities: three case studies. 651 Aug 52

The pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, clinical trials, side effects, and dosage of amoxapine are reviewed. Amoxapine is a tricyclic dibenzoxazepine antidepressant that is chemically similar to the antipsychotic agent loxapine. In animal tests, amoxapine and its metabolites block reuptake of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, with little effect on serotonin. It is rapidly and virtually completely absorbed when administered orally; peak serum concentrations occur one to two hours after ingestion. Amoxapine is widely distributed throughout body tissues and is 90% bound to serum proteins. Aromatic hydroxylation in the liver produces two major metabolites, which are excreted in the urine primarily but also in the feces. Amoxapine's elimination half-life is eight hours; one of the metabolites has a long half-life (30 hours). In clinical trials, amoxapine has been compared with amitriptyline and imipramine in several types of depressed patients. In some studies, amoxapine's therapeutic effects were measurable earlier (at one or two weeks after initiation of therapy) than those of the amitriptyline or imipramine, but generally only a portion of the depression-rating scales yielded statistically significant differences. Side effects noted during amoxapine therapy include hypotension (42%), drowsiness (14%), xerostomia (14%), constipation (12%), blurred vision (7%), fatigue (5%), and vertigo (5%). Amoxapine is approved by FDA for use in patients with neurotic or reactive depressive disorders, endogenous or psychotic depression, and depression accompanied by anxiety or agitation. The usual adult dosage is 200-300 mg daily, either in divided doses or a single bedtime dose. Amoxapine is a safe and effective antidepressant with no striking advantages over other available agents.
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PMID:Evaluation of amoxapine. 676 65

Amoxapine (Demolox; Lederle), an antidepressive agent, was administered to 24 patients suffering from pathological depression in an open uncontrolled single-blind study. The dosage ranged from 75 to 150 mg/d. Four patients dropped out of the study owing to side-effects and 1 because of rapid improvement. The 19 showed a marked improvement and experienced no side-effects. There were firm indications that improvement can be expected within 7 days.
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PMID:Amoxapine in the treatment of depression. A clinical evaluation in ambulant patients. 704 92

Amoxapine is an N-demethylated dibenzoxazepine closely related in the neuroleptic loxapine. Its tricyclic structure appears to give it antidepressant properties resembling imipramine and amitriptyline. In uncontrolled trials it was shown to have antidepressant activity in usual doses up to 200 to 400mg daily. In placebo and double-blind controlled studies comparing amoxapine with the standard tricyclic antidepressants imipramine and amitriptyline, it was shown to be comparable in efficacy with a possibly somewhat faster onset of improvement of selected symptoms of depression in some studies. Because of the small study groups and lack of placebo control, many reports do not show statistically significant differences of treatment over standard drugs. To date there have been no studies comparing amoxapine with electroconvulsive therapy. Side effects were qualitatively similar to standard drugs with a suggestion that in standard doses or overdose myocardial effects are mild. However, the final place of amoxapine in the therapy of depressed states is still to be decided.
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PMID:Amoxapine: a review of its pharmacology and efficacy in depressed states. 704 59

Amoxapine, a recently introduced dibenzoxazepine, has been found effective in clinical studies for the treatment of various types of depression. Two amoxapine related deaths, a 53-year-old white male and a 21-year-old white female, have been investigated by this office. Both had been prescribed amoxapine for depression. Quantitation of amoxapine was by gas chromatography using a 3% OV-17 column with confirmation by ultraviolet spectrophotometry and thin layer chromatography. Blood amoxapine concentrations were found to be 18 mg/L in the first subject, and 6.7 mg/L in the second subject. These concentrations are many-fold higher than the therapeutic serum concentrations of up to 0.21 mg/L reported in a clinical study. These cases illustrate the potential lethality of amoxapine overdosage and the need for caution in prescribing amoxapine to patients with suicidal tendencies.
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PMID:The determination of amoxapine in human fatal overdoses. 716 42

Background: Patients with mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, who seek medical care in private psychiatric clinics in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, have recently expressed concerns to doctors about difficulty in filling psychotropic medications, such as Amitriptyline and Aripiprazole, at retail community pharmacies. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a shortage of some commonly prescribed psychotropic medications in retail community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia, and if so, to explore the possible reasons behind the shortage of these medications. Methods: The availability of 28 commonly prescribed psychotropic medications was checked in multiple retail community pharmacies in 4 different regions of Saudi Arabia. Further, potential reasons behind the shortage of some psychotropic medications in retail community pharmacies were also explored. Results: Amitriptyline, Amoxapine, Aripiprazole, Bupropion, Buspirone, Duloxetine, Haloperidol, Hydroxyzine, Lithium, Prochlorperazine, Procyclidine, Promethazine, Thioridazine, Trazodone, and Trifluoperazine were unavailable in over half of the 248 community pharmacies surveyed. Four possible reasons behind the shortage of these medications were reported by 31 pharmacists working in different retail community pharmacies' purchasing departments, with a majority (58.06%) reporting the primary reason for a shortage of these medications that they are slow-moving items with low profit margins. Conclusions: The findings of this study should expedite the reform process in both the Ministry of Health and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) to publish and enforce an essential list of medications for retail community pharmacies, which should include the most commonly prescribed psychotropic medications.
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PMID:Shortage of psychotropic medications in community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia: Causes and solutions. 2872 47