Posted by SLS on July 10, 2015, at 21:39:04
In reply to Re: Reserpine, posted by linkadge on July 10, 2015, at 18:07:18
Thanks for all of the information. History is interesting.
> It seems to be used by herbalists for anxiety, agitation and insomnia. Interestingly there are case studies of it being helpful in bipolar disorder (mania and mixed states), and as an ajunctive to antipsychotics. In studies, it counteracts many of the effects of methlyphendate and PCP, but not amphetamine.
The first thing that strikes me is that methylphenidate and PCP are dopamine reuptake inhibitors (among other things), whereas amphetamine is primarily a releaser. I don't know what that means, though. I like puzzles.
I just researched a bit on how reserpine and amphetamine work. Reserpine renders storage vesicles nonfunctional by irreversibly binding to VMAT (vesicular monoamine transporter). Dopamine can no longer be sequestered from the cytosol and protected from breakdown by MAO. The result is that there is no dopamine released - reuptake inhibitors stop working because there is no synaptic dopamine to inhibit. Long story short, it looks to me like amphetamine releases dopamine into the synapse directly from the cytosol through reverse transport before MAO has a chance to catabolize it.
I really should get a hobby.
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1080308
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20150629/msgs/1080434.html