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TRICYCLIC ANTIDEPRESSANTS VARY IN DECREASING α‐ADRENOCEPTOR SENSITIVITY WITH CHRONIC TREATMENT: ASSESSMENT WITH CLONIDINE INHIBITION OF ACOUSTIC STARTLE
Author(s) -
DAVIS MICHAEL,
MENKES DAVID B.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
british journal of pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.432
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1476-5381
pISSN - 0007-1188
DOI - 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1982.tb09288.x
Subject(s) - clonidine , desipramine , tricyclic , mianserin , amitriptyline , reflex , medicine , moro reflex , endocrinology , pharmacology , anesthesia , serotonin , antidepressant , receptor , hippocampus
1 Clonidine inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex in the rat was used as a behavioural measure of α 2 ‐adrenoceptor sensitivity following acute or chronic administration of tricyclic antidepressants. 2 Chronic (14 day) administration of desipramine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) attenuated the depressant effect of clonidine (20 or 40 Mg/kg) on the startle reflex. 3 No change in response to clonidine was obtained after chronic treatment with two other tricyclic antidepressants, amitriptyline (10 mg/kg) or iprindole (5 mg/kg). 4 Acute administration of these tricyclics (1 h) did not modify the effect of clonidine on startle. 5 It is suggested that the development of α 2 ‐adrenoceptor subsensitivity produced by chronic tricyclics may be unique to those compounds, such as desipramine, which are active in blocking the uptake of noradrenaline.