Venlafaxine. Pharmacology and therapeutic potential in the treatment of depression

✍ Scribed by Frances E. Burnett; Timothy G. Dinan

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 158 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6222
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1077(199804)13:3<153::aid-hup973>3.0.co;2-s

✦ Synopsis

Venlafaxine is the ®rst available antidepressant of the structurally novel SNRI (serotonin noradrenaline-reuptake inhibitor) class of drugs. It resembles the tricyclics in its ability to inhibit presynaptic reuptake of both serotonin and noradrenaline to a clinically signi®cant degree. However, it does not cause appreciable eects at other receptor sites, including cholinergic, adrenergic and histaminergic, which are responsible for most of the unwanted side eects and toxicity associated with antidepressant treatment. It has the unusual ability to reduce b-noradrenergic responsiveness after a single dose, which has led to the suggestion that it may have an earlier onset of therapeutic eect than traditional antidepressants. Clinical trials provide evidence that venlafaxine is of comparable ecacy to reference antidepressants, but may have a faster onset of antidepressant eect when given in high dosage.