Psychotropic drug

About: Psychotropic drug is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2309 publications have been published within this topic receiving 54070 citations.

Phytotherapy and the new paradigm of drugs mode of action.

Abstract: Pharmacology has been refractory to the contributions of ethnopharmacology in terms of paradigms for drugs use or mode of action. The complex patterns often found in evaluations of medicinal plant extracts suggest that the effects of plant drugs may often be based on a more complex pharmacodynamic basis than the more usual drug/effect relationships. Pharmacological properties of herbals may result from various active ingredients, interactions among those, or ingredients possessing multiple mechanisms of action. This paper focuses on the psychopharmacology of herbals in the light of newer paradigms of psychotropic drug action. It is suggested that understanding of traditional medical concepts and practices can lead to innovative drug development.

Delayed drug interactions in psychiatry: armodafinil and risperidone as a potential case in point.

Abstract: Modafinil or armodafinil (ar/mod) augmentation of antipsychotic medication in schizophrenia patients may be considered with a view to reduce negative symptoms associated with the illness or excessive daytime drowsiness due to any cause. The available data suggest that there is no role for ar/mod in reducing negative symptom burden. A recent pharmacokinetic (PK) study suggested that armodafinil (250 mg/d) reduces key PK parameters of risperidone by about 50%, and key PK parameters of 9-hydroxyrisperidone (paliperidone) by about 20%-30%, probably through induction of CYP3A4. Ar/mod augmentation is therefore best avoided in patients receiving risperidone or paliperidone (and most other atypical antipsychotic drugs, as well, because most atypical antipsychotics are metabolized by enzymes that ar/mod induce). If the ar/mod-antipsychotic drug combination is necessary, for whatever reason, then the dose of the atypical antipsychotic drug may need to be appropriately raised. If this is not done, relapse may occur; because the relapse may postdate the introduction of ar/mod by many months, the causal role of a metabolic drug interaction may not be suspected, and physicians may attribute the relapse to the natural course of the illness. Physicians need to be aware that any agent that induces the metabolism of psychotropic drugs that are used in maintenance therapy may, through lowered psychotropic drug levels, result in a delayed drug interaction that is characterized by illness relapse.

Down-regulation of tryptamine binding sites following chronic molindone administration: a comparison with responses of dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors

Abstract: The present study assessed changes of tryptamine, dopamine D2, 5-HT1 and 5-HT2 binding sites in rat brain following chronic treatment with low (5 mg/kg/day) and high (40 mg/kg/day) doses of molindone, a clinically effective psychotropic drug. The high-dose molindone treatment produced a decrease in the number of tryptamine binding sites while both high and low doses caused an increase in the number of dopamine D2 binding sites in the striatum. No significant changes were observed in either 5-HT1 or 5-HT2 binding sites in the cerebral cortex. Competition binding experiments showed that molindone was a potent inhibitor at dopamine D2 but less effective at tryptamine, 5-FT1 and 5-HT2 binding sites. The inhibition activity of molindone towards type A monoamine oxidase produced a significant increase in endogenous tryptamine accumulation rate which was much higher than that of dopamine and 5-HT. These findings suggest that the reduction in the number of tryptamine binding sites produced by chronic molindone administration is related to monoamine oxidase inhibition and that the increase in the number of dopamine D2 binding sites is correlated to receptor blocking activity of the drug.

Carbamazepine Regulates Feline Aggression Elicited From the Midbrain Periaqueductal Gray

Abstract: Carbamazepine has been utilized both as an anticonvulsant and as a psychotropic drug for the treatment of complex partial seizures and various mood and other emotional disorders such as the episodic dyscontrol syndrome. In the present study, we sought to identify the role of carbamazepine in the regulation of two forms of aggressive behavior--affective defense and quiet biting attack behavior--elicited by electrical stimulation of the midbrain periaqueductal gray matter of the cat in the absence of convulsive activity. The experimental paradigm involved establishment of stable baseline thresholds for affective defense and quiet biting attack responses. Following establishment of a stable baseline, carbamazepine (2.5, 5, or 10 mg/kg) and propylene glycol (vehicle control) were administered peripherally (IP). The response thresholds were tested 5-30, 30-60, 60-90, 120-150, 1440-1470, and 2160-2190 minutes following drug administration. It was observed that carbamazepine administration at 5 and 10 mg/kg dose levels preferentially suppressed affective defense behavior but had no effect upon quiet biting attack, indicating that the selective effects of carbamazepine upon affective attack are not due to any possible sedative effects upon motor responses. The effects of carbamazepine upon affective defense were dose dependent and of long duration when administered at the highest dose level (10 mg/kg).

Association of genetic risk scores with body mass index in Swiss psychiatric cohorts.

Abstract: Weight gain is associated with psychiatric disorders and/or with psychotropic drug treatments. We analyzed in three psychiatric cohorts under psychotropic treatment the association of weighted genetic risk scores (w-GRSs) with BMI by integrating BMI-related polymorphisms from the candidate-gene approach and Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS).