Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the clinical and ‎electrocardiographic (ECG) manifestations of benzodiazepines (BZs).‎ Methods: In this retrospective study, all BZ-poisoned patients hospitalized at Loghman ‎Hakim Hospital between September 2010 and March 2011 were evaluated. Patients’ ‎information including age, sex, time elapsed between the ingestion and presenta...

Twelve patients acted successfully as subjects to study what effect if any the benzodiazepines nitrazepam, diazepam, oxazepam, and chlordiazepoxide might have on steady-state plasma levels of nortriptyline and amitriptyline. No significant detectable effect was discovered. In view of the known interaction effects of other alternative tranquillizing drugs and hypnotics it seems reasonable to cho...

The antidepressant milnacipran is a double serotonin/noradrenalin reuptake inhibitor. The low reported incidence of intoxication indicates excellent tolerance in comparison with tricyclic and second generation antidepressants. We report a fatal intoxication associating milnacipran, at blood levels (femoral=21.5 mg/l, cardiac=20 mg/l) 40-fold higher than the usual treatment concentration, and si...

Benzodiazepines are among the most prescribed drugs for the treatment of a wide spectrum of clinical disorders. They have been used as anticonvulsants, anxiolytics, hypnotics or muscle relaxants with different durations of action. In this paper, the determination of six frequently used benzodiazepines and metabolites: flunitrazepam, oxazepam, alprazolam, chlordiazepoxide, diazepam and desmethyl...

Several animal models of "depression" have been examined. One of them is chronic unpredictable stress (CUS)-induced deficit of fighting behavior in rats. In the present study, we compared the effects of two antidepressants (fluoxetine or fluvoxamine) and three anxiolytics (buspirone, lorazepam or oxazepam) on the electric footshock-induced fighting behavior in the pairs of male Wistar rats expo...

Chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) is one of the behavioral models resembling in some respects (loss of normal aggresiveness) human depression. In the present study, consistent with the ethical principles for scientific experiments on animals, we have decided to modify the CUS procedure. In this new modified model named chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS), we have introduced mild stressor ...