Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T02:32:23.341Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Effect of Desipramine upon Central Adrenergic Function in Depressed Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Ilana B. Glass ,
Stuart A. Checkley ,
Eric Shur  and
Sheila Dawling
Ilana B. Glass
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF
Stuart A. Checkley
Affiliation:
Maudsley Hospital, London, SE5 6AZ
Eric Shur
Affiliation:
Institute of Psychiatry
Sheila Dawling
Affiliation:
Guys Hospital, London, SE1
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Eleven drug free patients meeting Research Diagnostic Criteria for Major Depressive Disorder have been treated with desipramine and given a clonidine infusion after 0, 1 and 3 weeks of treatment. The sedative and hypotensive effects of clonidine were significantly inhibited after three weeks of treatment with desipramine: a similar interaction was seen after one week of treatment although this just failed to reach statistical significance. The growth hormone (GH) response to clonidine was initially impaired, but increased significantly after one week of treatment. A significant reduction in the GH response occurred during the second and third weeks of treatment with desipramine. This last finding is interpreted as evidence of adaptive change of α2 adrenoceptors: the other changes can be explained by the known ability of desipramine to block the re-uptake of noradrenaline.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 141 , Issue 4 , October 1982 , pp. 372 - 376
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1982 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Braithwaite, R. (1979) Measurement of antidepressant drugs. Proceedings of the Analytical Division of the Chemical Society, 16, 69–72.Google Scholar
Briant, R. H., Reid, J. L., & Dollery, C. T. (1973) Interaction between clonidine and desipramine in man. British Medical Journal, i, 522–3.Google Scholar
Carney, M. W. P., Roth, M. & Garside, R. F. (1965) The diagnosis of depressive syndromes and the prediction of ECT response. British Journal of Psychiatry, 111, 659–74.Google Scholar
Charney, D. S., Menkes, D. B. & Heninger, G. R. (1981a) Receptor sensitivity and the mechanism of action of antidepressant treatment. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 1160–80.Google Scholar
Charney, D. S., Heninger, C. R., Sternberg, D. E., Redmond, E. E., Leckman, J. F., Maas, J. W. & Roth, R. H. (1981b) Presynaptic adrenergic receptor sensitivity in depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 1334–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Checkley, S. A. (1980) Neuroendocrine tests of monoamine function in Man: a review of basic theory and its application to the study of depressive illness. Psychological Medicine, 10, 35–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Checkley, S. A., Slade, A. P. & Shur, E. (1981a) Growth hormone and other responses to clonidine in patients with endogenous depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 51–5.Google Scholar
Checkley, S. A., Slade, A. P., Shur, E. & Dawling, S. (1981b) A pilot study of the mechanism of action of desipramine. British Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 248–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Creese, I. & Sibley, D. R. (1980) Receptor adaptations to centrally acting drugs. Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 21, 357–91.Google Scholar
Crews, F. T. & Smith, C. B. (1978) Pre-synaptic alpha-receptor subsensitivity after long-term anti-depressant treatment. Science, 202, 322–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crews, F. T. & Smith, C. B. (1980) Potentiation of responses to adrenergic nerve stimulation in isolated rat atria during chronic tricyclic antidepressant administration. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 215, 143–9.Google ScholarPubMed
Endicott, J. & Spitzer, R. L. (1978) A diagnostic interview. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 837–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hamilton, M. (1967) Development of a rating scale for primary depressive illness. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 6, 278–96.Google Scholar
Matussek, N., Ackenheil, M., Hippius, H., Muller, F., Schroder, H.-Th., Schultes, H. & Wasilewski, D. (1980) Effect of clonidine on growth hormone release in psychiatric patients and controls. Psychiatry Research, 2, 25–36.Google Scholar
McMillen, D. A., Warnack, W. W., German, D. C. & Shore, P. A. (1980) Effects of chronic desipramine treatment on rat brain noradrenergic responses to α-adrenergic drugs. European Journal of Pharmacology, 61, 239–46.Google Scholar
McWilliam, J., Meldrum, B. S. & Checkley, S. A. (1981) Enhanced growth hormone response to clonidine after repeated electroconvulsive shock in a primate species. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 6, 77–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maitre, L., Moser, P., Baumann, P. A. & Waldmeier, P. C. (1980) Amine uptake inhibitors: criteria of selectivity. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Supplementum, 280, 61, 97–110.Google Scholar
Medgett, I. C., McCulloch, M. W. & Rand, M. J. (1978) Partial agonist action of clonidine on prejunctional and post junctional α adrenoceptors. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology, 304, 215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pelayo, F., Dubocovich, M. L. & Langer, S. Z. (1980) Inhibition of neuronal uptake reduces the presynaptic effects of clonidine but not of a methylnoradrenaline on the stimulation-evoked release of 3H-noradrenaline from rat occipital cortex slices. European Journal of Pharmacology, 64, 143–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rand, M. J., McCulloch, M. W. & Story, D. F. (1975) Prejunctional modulation of noradrenergic transmission by noradrenaline, dopamine and acetyl choline. In Central Action of Drugs in Blood Pressure Regulation, (eds. Davies, B. S. and Reid, J. L.). London: Pitman Medical.Google Scholar
Slade, A. P. & Checkley, S. A. (1980) A neuroendocrine study of the mechanism of action of ECT. British Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 217–21.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J. & Robbins, E. (1977) Research diagnostic criteria (RDC) for a selected group of functional disorders, 3rd edition. New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1977.Google Scholar
Sugrue, M. (1981a) Current concepts on the mechanisms of action of antidepressant drugs. Pharmacology and Therapeutics. 13, 219–47.Google Scholar
Sugrue, M. (1981b) Chronic antidepressant administration and adaptive changes in central monoaminergic systems. In Antidepressants: Neurochemical, Behavioural and Clinical Perspectives, (eds. Enna, S. J. et al). New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Sugrue, M. (1981c) Effects of acutely and chronically administered antidepressants on the clonidine-induced decrease in rat brain 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenethyleneglycol sulphate. Life Sciences, 208, 377–84.Google Scholar
Sulser, F. (1978) Tricyclic antidepressants. In Animal Pharmacology (Biochemical and Metabolic Aspects), In Handbook of Psychopharmacology, vol 14, (eds. Iversen, L. L., Iversen, S. D. and Snyder, S. H.), pp 157–98.Google Scholar
Svensson, T. H. & Usdin, T. (1978) Feedback inhibition of brain noradrenaline neurones by tricyclic antidepressants: a receptor mediation. Science, 202, 1089–91.Google Scholar
Sypraki, C. & Fibiger, H. C. (1980) Functional evidence for sub-sensitivity of noradrenergic a receptors after chronic desipramine treatment. Life Sciences, 27, 1863–7.Google Scholar
Tang, S. W., Helmeste, D. M. & Stancer, H. C. (1978) The effect of acute and chronic desipramine and amitriptyline treatment on rat brain total 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol. Nauyn Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology, 305, 207–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tang, S. W., Helmeste, D. M. & Stancer, H. C. (1979) Interaction of antidepressants with clonidine on rat brain total 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol. The Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, 57, 435–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
U'Prichard, D. C., Greenberg, D. A., Sheehan, P. P. & Snyder, S. H. (1978) Tricyclic antidepressants: therapeutic properties and affinity for α-noradrenergic receptor binding sites in the brain. Science, 199, 197–8.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.