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Clinical pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of antimanic and mood-stabilizing medications
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Ohio 45267-0559, USA. keckpe@email.uc.edu
Background:
A number of medications are now available or are in development as antimanic and/or mood-stabilizing agents. We reviewed the clinical pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of these agents to provide a summary of these properties relevant to clinical practice.
Method:
We conducted a MEDLINE search augmented by a manual search of bibliographies and a review of textbooks to identify articles regarding the clinical pharmacology of lithium, valproate, carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, olanzapine, clozapine, risperidone, ziprasidone, quetiapine, lamotrigine, and topiramate.
Results:
Not surprisingly, there are a number of clinically relevant pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic differences among these medications, and these differences are discussed.
Conclusion:
Knowledge of the clinical pharmacology of established and putative antimanic and mood-stabilizing medications is important in administering these agents safely and effectively.
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