Double‐blind placebo‐controlled study of the autonomic effects of clovoxamine, imipramine, and amitriptyline in normal volunteers

The autonomic effects of clovoxamine, a possible new antidepressant, were compared with placebo, imipramine, and amitriptyline in a double‐blind, repeated‐measures, latin‐square study design, using 16 healthy volunteers. Salivary flow, pupillary response, near‐point accommodation, and pilocarpine‐evoked miosis were assessed before and 1, 2, and 3 hours after each treatment condition. Dose‐related autonomic effects were seen with all three active drugs. Clovoxamine at a 50‐mg dose was not distinguishable from placebo. For salivary flow, perhaps the most reliable index of anticholinergic activity, the effects of 100‐mg and 150‐mg doses of clovoxamine were comparable to those of 50‐mg and 75‐mg doses of imipramine but were less than those of 50‐ and 75‐mg doses of amitriptyline at 3 hours postdosing. Copyright © 1988 Alan R. Liss, Inc.

Duke Scholars

Author William Herman Wilson Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Behavioral Medicine & Neur ...