Posted by King Vultan on March 7, 2004, at 17:32:05
In reply to Re: zoloft and dopamine » dondon, posted by rvanson on March 6, 2004, at 16:58:14
> > I've heard that zoloft has more potent da reuptake
> > properties than wellbutrin at higher doses. Is this
> > true? At what dose does zoloft begin to have a
> > meaningful effect on dopamine? 300 mgs, 400 mgs?
>
> I've never seen any medical studies showing that Zoloft has dopamine enhancing properties, though some people seem to think so.
>
> Does anyone know of a site where there is proof of this link ?
The best info on this particular topic I've seen is at www.preskorn.com in a column that I think is entitled: Bupropion: What Mechanism of Action? Preskorn goes into some detail on the pharmacology of both bupropion (Wellbutrin) and sertraline (Zoloft), particularly in regard to their dopamine reuptake inhibiting capabilities.The bottom line is that Wellbutrin winds up being a much more powerful dopamine reuptake inhibitor in practice because of the activity of its metabolites, which build up in the body to enormous concentrations. The dopamine reuptake inhibition of the parent molecule is weak and is actually inferior to that of Zoloft, but Zoloft's dopamine reuptake inhibition winds up being limited because of tolerance issues related to its much more powerful blockade of serotonin reuptake. To approach Wellbutrin's ability to blockade dopamine reuptake, a very high dosage of Zoloft would be necessary, which would likely generate severe adverse effects related to saturation of the serotonin reuptake transporter.
Todd
poster:King Vultan
thread:321161
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040304/msgs/321714.html