Ten per cent of British males report that they 'sometimes' or 'often' experience premature ejaculation. American researchers ( Pryor et al 2006 ) report on two large double-blind randomised studies assessing the efficacy and safety of dapoxetine, a short-acting, selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) to be used on-demand for treatment of the condition. Accompanying commentary.

Fluoxetine, an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor class, may stimulate prolactin release by pituitary lactotrophs. A 71-year-old woman taking estrogen replacement therapy developed galactorrhea after initiation of fluoxetine for depression and was found to have an elevated prolactin level. Fluoxetine was discontinued with resolution of the patient's galactorrhea and no...

Regulation of gene transcription via the cAMP-mediated second messenger pathway has been implicated in the actions of antidepressant drugs, but studies to date have not demonstrated such an effect in vivo. To directly study the regulation of cAMP response element (CRE)-mediated gene transcription by antidepressants, transgenic mice with a CRE-LacZ reporter gene construct were administered one o...

OBJECTIVES To investigate the rate of recording of premenstrual syndrome diagnoses in UK primary care and describe pharmacological treatments initiated following a premenstrual syndrome (PMS) diagnosis. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING UK primary care. PARTICIPANTS Women registered with a practice contributing to The Health Improvement Network primary care database between 1995 ...

Fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor anti-depressant, causes undesirable side effects, including diarrhea and constipation. This research investigated the direct effects of fluoxetine at 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, 100 µM on duodenal proximal colonic tissue contractions. The investigation aimed to determine related mechanisms using an isolated mouse intestine model. Our study showe...

The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have a very favorable safety profile. However, because of the wide use of this drug group, even low-frequency adverse effects become more prevalent. This article reviews 5 of these relatively infrequent adverse medical effects associated with the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secreti...

Preclinical studies suggest that augmentation of selective serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitors by the 5-HT(1A) receptor agent pindolol might reduce the delay between initiation of treatment and antidepressant response, an effect largely mediated by blockade of 5-HT(1A) autoreceptors in the dorsal raphe nuclei. Although some controlled clinical trials suggest that pindolol might reduce latency ...

Long-term exposure to cocaine can cause persistent behavioral changes and alterations in neuronal function. One cocaine-regulated mRNA in the rat brain is the beta-1 subunit of the Na+/K(+)-ATPase pump. We examined both Na+/K(+)-ATPase function and expression after cocaine treatment of pheochromocytoma cells. One-hour exposure to cocaine did not alter Na+/K(+)-ATPase activity, as measured by th...