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The Peripheral Anticholinergic Activity of Tricyclic Antidepressants: Comparison of Amitriptyline and Desipramine in Human Volunteers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

E. Szabadi ,
P. Gaszner  and
C. M. Bradshaw
E. Szabadi*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester, Withington Hospital, Manchester, M20 8LR
C. M. Bradshaw
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Manchester, Withington Hospital, Manchester, M20 8LR
*
∗Correspondence.
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Summary

The effects of three single oral doses (25 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg) of amitriptyline and desipramine, and of placebo, were compared on a range of cholinergic functions (resting pupil diameter, pilocarpine-evoked miosis, baseline-sweating, carbachol-evoked sweating, salivation, heart rate) in eight healthy volunteers. Three measures (pilocarpine-evoked miosis, carbachol-evoked sweating and salivation) reflected the antimuscarinic property of the antidepressants; in two tests (pilocarpine-evoked miosis and salivation) amitriptyline appeared to be more potent than desipramine. Resting pupil diameter was not affected by amitriptyline, whereas desipramine caused mydriasis, indicating that pupil size is not a reliable measure of anticholinergic activity in the case of drugs which also affect adrenergic mechanisms. Baseline-sweating and heart rate were not affected by the antidepressants.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 137 , Issue 5 , November 1980 , pp. 433 - 439
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1980 

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Footnotes

∗∗

Present address: National Institute of Psychiatry, Budapest, Hungary.

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