Experimental animal studies did not indicate injurious effects of opipramol on the embryonic development or fertility. Opipramol should only be prescribed during pregnancy, particularly in the first trimester, for compelling indication.
It should not be used during lactation and breastfeeding, since it passes into breast milk in small quantities.
Side effects
Frequently (≥1% to <10%) reported adverse reactions with opipramol, especially at the beginning of the treatment, include fatigue, dry mouth, blocked nose, hypotension, and orthostatic dysregulation.
Symptoms of intoxication from overdose include drowsiness, insomnia, stupor, agitation, coma, transient confusion, increased anxiety, ataxia, convulsions, oliguria, anuria, tachycardia or bradycardia, arrhythmia, AV block, hypotension, shock, respiratory depression, and, rarely, cardiac arrest.
Since no antidote for tricyclic antidepressant overdose is known, its treatment remains largely supportive. Removal of the drug should be facilitated by vomiting or gastric lavage. Cardiovascular function should be monitored continuously for at least 48 hours. Arrhythmias should be treated on a case-by-case basis with an appropriate pacemaker and correction of metabolic irregularities, particularly electrolyte imbalances. Respiratory failure should be managed by intubation and artificial respiration. Convulsions should be managed with anticonvulsants (typically diazepam), while monitoring for any worsening in CNS depression. Hypotension can be treated by assuming the corresponding recovery position, by increasing plasma volume with saline infusions, or by pressors, such as adrenaline or dobutamine.
Interactions
Opipramol can be co-prescribed with other psychiatric drugs, such as antidepressants, anxiolytics and antipsychotics, in which case it can interact with them. Most problematic interactions are generally additive or synergistic, such that, when drugs are combined, their effects intensify, which usually manifests as an increase in side effects, but can also be dangerous, depending on the drugs involved.
While opipramol is not a monoamine reuptake inhibitor, any irreversible MAOIs should still be discontinued at least 14 days before treatment. Opipramol can compete with other TCAs, beta blockers, antiarrhythmics (of class 1c) and other drugs for microsomal enzymes, which can lead to slower metabolism and higher plasma concentrations of these drugs. Co-administration of antipsychotics (e.g., haloperidol, risperidone) can increase the plasma concentration of opipramol. Barbiturates and anticonvulsants, on the other hand, can reduce the plasma concentration of opipramol and thereby weaken its therapeutic effect.[3]
Sigma receptors are a set of proteins located in the endoplasmic reticulum.[3] σ1 receptors play key role in potentiating intracellular calcium mobilization thereby acting as sensor or modulator of calcium signaling.[3] Occupancy of σ1 receptors by agonists causes translocation of the receptor from endoplasmic reticulum to peripheral areas (membranes) where the σ1 receptors cause neurotransmitter release.[3] Opipramol is said to have a biphasic action, with prompt initial improvement of tension, anxiety, and insomnia followed by improved mood later.[3] Hence, it is an anxiolytic with an antidepressant component.[3] After sub-chronic treatment with opipramol, σ2 receptors are significantly downregulated but σ1 receptors are not.[3]
Opipramol was developed by Geigy.[27] It first appeared in the literature in 1952 and was patented in 1961.[27] The drug was first introduced for use in medicine in 1961.[27] Opipramol was one of the first TCAs to be introduced, with imipramine marketed in the 1950s and amitriptyline marketed in 1961.[27]
Society and culture
Opipramol as Insidon and Pramolan 50 mg tablets.
Generic names
Opipramol is the English, German, French, and Spanishgeneric name of the drug and its INNTooltip International Nonproprietary Name, BANTooltip British Approved Name, and DCFTooltip Dénomination Commune Française, while opipramol hydrochloride is its USANTooltip United States Adopted Name, BANMTooltip British Approved Name, and JANTooltip Japanese Accepted Name.[1][4][28][5] Its generic name in Italian and its DCITTooltip Denominazione Comune Italiana is opipramolo and in Latin is opipramolum.[4][5]
Brand names
Opipramol is marketed under the brand names Deprenil, Dinsidon, Ensidon, Insidon, Insomin, Inzeton, Nisidana, Opipram, Opramol, Oprimol, Pramolan, and Sympramol among others.[1][4][5]
^ abcdMöller HJ, Volz HP, Reimann IW, Stoll KD (February 2001). "Opipramol for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder: a placebo-controlled trial including an alprazolam-treated group". Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. 21 (1): 59–65. doi:10.1097/00004714-200102000-00011. PMID11199949. S2CID27014778.
^ abcMüller WE, Siebert B, Holoubek G, Gentsch C (November 2004). "Neuropharmacology of the anxiolytic drug opipramol, a sigma site ligand". Pharmacopsychiatry. 37 (Suppl 3): S189–S197. doi:10.1055/s-2004-832677. PMID15547785. S2CID260238755.
^Grosser HH, Ryan E (February 1965). "Drug Treatment of Anxiety: A Controlled Study of Opipramol and Chlordiazepoxide". The British Journal of Psychiatry. 111 (471): 134–141. doi:10.1192/bjp.111.471.134. PMID14270525. S2CID40241272.
^Volz HP, Möller HJ, Reimann I, Stoll KD (May 2000). "Opipramol for the treatment of somatoform disorders results from a placebo-controlled trial". European Neuropsychopharmacology. 10 (3): 211–217. doi:10.1016/S0924-977X(00)00074-2. PMID10793324. S2CID39368370.
^ abGahr M, Hiemke C, Connemann BJ (March 2017). "[Update Opipramol]". Fortschritte der Neurologie-Psychiatrie (in German). 85 (3): 139–145. doi:10.1055/s-0043-100762. PMID28320023.
^Braun JS, Geiger R, Wehner H, Schäffer S, Berger M (July 1998). "Hepatitis caused by antidepressive therapy with maprotiline and opipramol". Pharmacopsychiatry. 31 (4): 152–155. doi:10.1055/s-2007-979319. PMID9754852. S2CID260242120.
^Roth BL, Driscol J. "PDSP Ki Database". Psychoactive Drug Screening Program (PDSP). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the United States National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
^Klein M, Musacchio JM (October 1989). "High affinity dextromethorphan binding sites in guinea pig brain. Effect of sigma ligands and other agents". The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 251 (1): 207–215. PMID2477524.
^ abcdRao TS, Cler JA, Mick SJ, Dilworth VM, Contreras PC, Iyengar S, Wood PL (December 1990). "Neurochemical characterization of dopaminergic effects of opipramol, a potent sigma receptor ligand, in vivo". Neuropharmacology. 29 (12): 1191–1197. doi:10.1016/0028-3908(90)90044-r. PMID1963476. S2CID23110359.
^Sills MA, Loo PS (July 1989). "Tricyclic antidepressants and dextromethorphan bind with higher affinity to the phencyclidine receptor in the absence of magnesium and L-glutamate". Molecular Pharmacology. 36 (1): 160–165. PMID2568580.
^ abcHyttel J (1982). "Citalopram--pharmacological profile of a specific serotonin uptake inhibitor with antidepressant activity". Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry. 6 (3): 277–295. doi:10.1016/s0278-5846(82)80179-6. PMID6128769. S2CID36424574.
^ abcdeAppl H, Holzammer T, Dove S, Haen E, Strasser A, Seifert R (February 2012). "Interactions of recombinant human histamine H1R, H2R, H3R, and H4R receptors with 34 antidepressants and antipsychotics". Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology. 385 (2): 145–170. doi:10.1007/s00210-011-0704-0. PMID22033803. S2CID14274150.
^Gutteck U, Rentsch KM (December 2003). "Therapeutic drug monitoring of 13 antidepressant and five neuroleptic drugs in serum with liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry". Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. 41 (12): 1571–1579. doi:10.1515/CCLM.2003.240. PMID14708881. S2CID24448788.
^ abcdAndersen J, Kristensen AS, Bang-Andersen B, Strømgaard K (July 2009). "Recent advances in the understanding of the interaction of antidepressant drugs with serotonin and norepinephrine transporters". Chemical Communications (25): 3677–3692. doi:10.1039/b903035m. PMID19557250.