Posted by johnj on June 6, 2002, at 9:17:12
In reply to high cortisol, posted by katekite on June 5, 2002, at 20:58:59
Hi,
Here is some info that fachad listed on the trimipramine thread above. It is worth the read, but may not be exactly what you are looking for.
johnj
Trimipramine: a challenge to current concepts on antidepressives.Berger M, Gastpar M.
Klinikum, Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat, Freiburg, Germany.
Although it is chemically a classical tricyclic antidepressant agent, trimipramine shows atypical pharmacological properties. Its well-documented antidepressant action cannot be explained by noradrenaline or serotonin reuptake inhibition or by a down-regulation of beta-adrenoceptors. Furthermore, its receptor affinity profile resembles more that of clozapine, a neuroleptic drug, than that of tricyclic antidepressants. Trimipramine does not reduce, but rather increases, rapid eye movement sleep. It stimulates nocturnal prolactin secretion and inhibits nocturnal cortisol secretion and may act at the level of the hypothalamus on corticotropin-releasing hormone secretion. Trimipramine is of particular value in depressed patients with insomnia, and it has been shown to be effective in the therapy of primary insomnia. As the pharmacological profile indicates, and an open clinical study has shown, trimipramine might also be active as an antipsychotic. The drug is both a tool for increasing our understanding of depression and a potential therapy for several psychiatric disorders.
Depression 1996;4(1):1-13 Related Articles, Books, LinkOut
Trimipramine and imipramine exert different effects on the sleep EEG and on nocturnal hormone secretion during treatment of major depression.Sonntag A, Rothe B, Guldner J, Yassouridis A, Holsboer F, Steiger A.
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany.
In a 4-week double-blind clinical trial we compared the effects of the tricyclic antidepressants trimipramine and imipramine on the sleep EEG and on nocturnal bormone secretion in 20 male inpatients with major depression. Both treatments produced rapid significant clinical improvement in depression without severe adverse effects. However, the two drugs had markedly different neurobiologic profiles. Trimipramine enhanced rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and slow wave sleep, whereas imipramine suppressed REM sleep and showed no effect on slow wave sleep. Total sleep time and the sleep efficiency index increased under trimipramine but not under imipramine. Nocturnal cortisol secretion decreased with trimipramine but remained unchanged with imipramine. In contrast to imipramine, trimipramine induced an increase in prolactin secretion compatible with its known antagonism at dopamine (D2) receptors. Imipramine induced a decrease in growth hormone secretion during the first half of the night. Neither of the drugs induced significant changes in plasma testosterone concentration. We conclude that trimipramine is an antidepressant with sleep-improving qualities that possibly acts through inhibition of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical system activity by a yet unknown mechanism.
poster:johnj
thread:108859
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020602/msgs/108931.html