Posted by zeugma on August 8, 2004, at 11:14:47
In reply to Re: this just in on atomoxetine » zeugma, posted by SLS on August 8, 2004, at 10:20:39
> > I was the poster who brought up the atomoxetine-nortriptyline contrast. Atomoxetine's major metabobolite, 4-hydroxyatomoxetine, is a kappa-opiate partial agonist:
>
> Hi Z.
>
> It never ceases to amaze me how much biological activity these drugs and their metabolites have. On the one hand, it is upsetting to have to continually rework one's models and hypotheses to keep up with the overwhelming number discoveries made in neuroscience. On the other hand, it is settling to contemplate that the diverse and often unpredictable clinical effects of these drugs are that much closer to being elucidated. I wish I could keep up with all of it.
>
> Thanks for posting this.
>
> - ScottHi Scott.
I agree that it is a mixed blessing about the complexity of these drugs' actions. In the case of atomoxetine I cannot help thinking that a degree of suspicion must have attached to atomoxetine, since its billing as a relatively pure NE reuptake inhibitor should not have caused the degree of sedation/fatigue that postmarketing reports have elicited.
Certainly the models we have for drug development and the rationales for mechanisms of efficacy are far too simple. We have to trust our own responses to these drugs and trust that the neuroscientists will be following in our wake sooner or later :)
-z
poster:zeugma
thread:374053
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040805/msgs/375311.html