Posted by SLS on July 29, 2000, at 10:39:48
In reply to Re: Reserpine for treating depression ?, posted by Sunnely on July 28, 2000, at 0:39:09
Dear Sunnely,
Thank you for your input.
Years ago, I saw some stuff written up in the late 1970s that reserpine was used as a pretreatment before beginning a tricyclic antidepressant. It was not taken concomitantly. I don't know the particulars of the procedure, however. Someone recently mentioned this treatment on Psycho-Babble, so I wonder if it is still used on occasion. He called it "kick-starting" an antidepressant and referred to its use with an MAO inhibitor.
I believe that reserpine prevents the uptake of neurotransmitter by synaptic storage vesicles. My question is, does reserpine simply bind to some transporter receptor reversibly or irreversibly, or does it actually destroy the vesicle?
I don't remember if a mechanism had been proposed for why reserpine pretreatment worked. Perhaps it encourages the formation of new vesicles. Maybe amine depletion leads to the activation of presynaptic feedback loops immediately prior to the initiation of other potentiation events produced by antidepressants. Any thoughts on this?
What are your impressions of the use of yohimbine as an adjunct to tricyclics or MAOIs?
Thanks.
- Scott
> > Does anyone know anything about the use of reserpine in the treatment of depression?
>
>
> Reserpine is used primarily as an antihypertensive drug, although reports of its use in the treatment of psychosis date back to ancient Hindu Ayurvedic texts. Reserpine was used to treat psychosis before the introduction of antipsychotics in the 1950s.
>
> Once known for its role in causing depression, reserpine has been suggested as effective for depression when given in combination with tricyclic antidepressants. Several studies showed benefits from the use of reserpine and TCAs but more recent studies, however, have placed a question mark on these benefits.
poster:SLS
thread:41506
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000729/msgs/41646.html