Major depressive disorder (MDD) is estimated by the World Health Organization to be the fourth leading cause of loss of disability-adjusted life years. In theNational Comorbidity Survey, MDD is the most common mental illness and is one of the most common and disabling of all illnesses (Kessler et al., 1994). The lifetime risk for MDD is 10–25% in women and 5–12% in men, and at any point its pre...

Although nicotine is generally considered to be the main compound responsible for addictive properties of tobacco, experimental data indicate that nicotine does not exhibit all the characteristics of other substances of abuse. We recently showed that a pretreatment with mixed irreversible monoamine oxidases inhibitors (MAOIs), such as tranylcypromine, triggers a locomotor response to nicotine i...

The serotonin syndrome is a potential side-effect of serotonin-enhancing drugs, including antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). We recently reported a genetic mouse model for the serotonin syndrome, as serotonin transporter (SERT)-deficient mice have exaggerated serotonin syndrome behavioural responses to the MAOI trany...

Ayahuasca ingestion modulates brain activity, neurotransmission, gene expression and epigenetic regulation. N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT, one of the alkaloids in Ayahuasca) activates sigma 1 receptor (SIGMAR1) and others. SIGMAR1 is a multi-faceted stressresponsive receptor which promotes cell survival, neuroprotection, neuroplasticity, and neuroimmunomodulation. Simultaneously, monoamine oxidas...

The newer antidepressants are as efficacious as the older agents in the treatment of depression. They have a side effect profile that is different from the older drugs and are generally better tolerated. Drug-drug interactions do exist with some of these agents and can usually be predicted from knowledge of their metabolism. When taken in overdose as the sole agents they are rarely fatal; seizu...

INTRODUCTION It has long been recognized that anxiety symptoms and syndromes may be caused by medication and/or substance of abuse. The aim of this report is to present a patient who experienced social phobia following maprotiline, an adverse drug reaction which has not been reported previously with this agent. CASE PRESENTATION A 27 year-old male patient was suffering from dysthymia for 6 ye...

212 P&T® • April 2008 • Vol. 33 No. 4 ABSTRACT Although monoamine oxidase inhib itors (MAOIs) at one time represented the mainstay of therapy for major depressive disorder (MDD), the risk of acute hypertensive reactions following the ingestion of tyramine-rich foods and the consequent need to restrict dietary tyramine represent a barrier to their use. In this article, we present an overview of ...

• Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOI): Because of the risk of serotonin syndrome, do not use MAOIs intended to treat psychiatric disorders with SYMBYAX or within 5 weeks of stopping treatment with SYMBYAX. Do not use SYMBYAX within 14 days of stopping an MAOI intended to treat psychiatric disorders. In addition, do not start SYMBYAX in a patient who is being treated with linezolid or intravenou...

OBJECTIVE To review studies on treatments for bipolar depression and make recommendations for practising clinicians treating patients with bipolar depression. METHOD Studies that examined various treatments for bipolar depression were evaluated and rated for evidence of efficacy using Periodic Health Examination criteria. The rating for classification of recommendation for an intervention was...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is highly prevalent in Asia. Antidepressants have been associated with increase in hepatocellular carcinoma. This is the first Asian population-based study to evaluate the association between antidepressant use and risk of HCC. Based on Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database, we conducted a nationwide population-based study. A total of 49,998 cases w...