Abilify, an atypical antipsychotic, has been the number one prescription drug in America for several years based on dollar-volume. Sales are $6.29 billion per year. But treatment of psychosis is not what made Abilify the top-selling drug in the United States. Abilify is now widely prescribed as an adjunctive drug for depression; and it is prescribed offlabel for many uses. The manufacturer says...

This article examines trends in antipsychotic medication use in a treated population of publicly funded patients with schizophrenia between 1991 and 1996. Findings from administrative claims data show that antipsychotic prescription rates increased from 79 percent to 83 percent between 1991 and 1996. Atypical antipsychotics were used by 39 percent of the population and comprised 41 percent of a...

The 1950s saw the clinical introduction of the first two specifically antidepressant drugs: iproniazid, a monoamine-oxidase inhibitor that had been used in the treatment of tuberculosis, and imipramine, the first drug in the tricyclic antidepressant family. Iproniazid and imipramine made two fundamental contributions to the development of psychiatry: one of a social-health nature, consisting in...

Depression is a chronic and debilitating condition with a significant degree of relapse and treatment resistance that could stem, at least in part, from disturbances of neuroplasticity. This has led to an increased focus on treatment strategies that target brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), synaptic plasticity and adult neurogenesis. In the current study we aimed to assess whether erythr...

Norepinephrine (NE) is thought to play an important role in the pathophysiology of depression, and in the mechanism of action of antidepressant compounds. Previously, we created mice that are unable to synthesize NE and epinephrine due to targeted disruption of the dopamine-beta-hydroxylase gene (Dbh). To specifically test the role of NE in mediating behavioral changes elicited by antidepressan...

Moclobemide, p-chloro-N-[morpholinoethyl]benzamide, is a prototype of RIMA (reversible inhibitor of MAO-A) agents. The compound possesses antidepressant efficacy that is comparable to that of tricyclic and polycyclic antidepressants. In humans, moclobemide is rapidly absorbed after a single oral administration and maximum concentration in plasma is reached within an hour. It is moderately to ma...

regard, the recent article by Yellowlees and Kalucy (Chest 1990; 97:628-34) and the accompanying editorial by Gorman (Chest 1990; 97:514-15) were of great interest. With respect to the apparent efficacy of anti-depressant medications in asthmatic patients, however, it is important to consider the antihistaminic properties (which are not widely appreciated) that these agents possess. Tricyclic a...

This review centers on recent findings with respect to modulating cancer multidrug resistance (MDR) with the well-known antidepressant fluoxetine (prozac). The MDR phenomena and mechanisms are discussed, including the roles of ABC transporters as MDR-pumps and the potential involvement of cancer stem cells. The three generations of MDR reversal agents (chemosensitizers) are reviewed, introducin...

objective: the present study was designed to investigate the putative antidepressant effects of crocin and crocetin, two major active ingredients of crocus sativus l. (saffron) using mice in two different regimens of acute and sub-acute administration. material and methods: in acute treatment, antidepressant-like activities of crocin and crocetin (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg, i.p.) were evaluated using...

objective(s) this study planned to assess antidepressant like activity of aqueous extract from leaves of citrus maxima merr. (rutaceae). materials and methods boiling was used for aqueous extraction. acute toxicity study was performed in mice. antidepressant activity was studied using locomotor activity test, modified forced swimming test (fst) and tail suspension test (tst). three doses 100, 2...