Amoxapine (Asendin, Lederle Laboratories)

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology
• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Amoxapine is a tricyclic antidepressant structurally related to loxapine.
• It selectively blocks norepinephrine reuptake, similar to desipramine.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy and therapeutic potential of amoxapine in treating depressive illnesses.
• To identify the need for further comparative studies with similar antidepressants.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing studies on amoxapine's efficacy in patients with mixed depressive illnesses.
• Analysis of available biopharmaceutical, pharmacokinetic, and toxicity data.

Main Results:

• Amoxapine demonstrated efficacy comparable to amitriptyline and imipramine, and superior to placebo.
• Data supporting rapid onset of effects are based on small, heterogeneous patient samples.
• Limited data exist on pharmacokinetics, serum concentration-efficacy relationships, acute toxicity, and drug interactions.

Conclusions:

• Amoxapine serves as a chemical alternative to traditional tricyclic antidepressants.
• No consistent data show amoxapine's superiority over other antidepressants for specific symptoms or populations.
• Further studies comparing amoxapine with similar agents in homogeneous groups are required.