Trade names Tofranil, others MedlinePlus a682389 ATC code N06AA02 (WHO) CAS ID 50-49-7 | AHFS/Drugs.com Monograph Routes ofadministration Oral Molar mass 280.407 g/mol Protein binding 86% | |
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Pregnancycategory AU: CUS: N (Not classified yet) | ||
Imipramine, sold as Tofranil and also known as melipramine, is a tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) of the dibenzazepine group. Imipramine is mainly used in the treatment of major depression and enuresis (inability to control urination).
Contents
Imipramine was discovered in 1951.
Medical uses
Imipramine is used in the treatment of depression, such as depression associated with agitation or anxiety. It is similar in efficacy to the antidepressant drug moclobemide. It has also been used to treat nocturnal enuresis because of its ability to shorten the time of delta wave stage sleep, where wetting occurs. In veterinary medicine, imipramine is used with xylazine to induce pharmacologic ejaculation in stallions.
Side effects
Those listed in Italic text below denote common side effects.
Mechanism of action
Imipramine, a tertiary amine, affects numerous neurotransmitter systems known to be involved in the etiology of depression, anxiety, ADHD, enuresis and numerous other mental and physical conditions. Imipramine is similar in structure to some muscle relaxants, and has a significant analgesic effect and, thus, is very useful in some pain conditions.
The mechanisms of imipramine's medicinal action include, but are not limited to, effects on:
Within the body, imipramine is converted to desipramine, another TCA.
History
In the late 1950s, imipramine was the first tricyclic antidepressant to be developed (by Ciba). At the first international congress of neuro-pharmacology in Rome, September 1958 Dr Freyhan from the University of Pennsylvania discussed as one of the first clinicians the effects of imipramine in a group of 46 patients, most of them diagnosed as "depressive psychosis". The patients were selected for this study based on symptoms such as depressive apathy, kinetic retardation and feelings of hopelessness and despair. In 30% of all patients, he reported optimal results, and in around 20%, failure. The side effects noted were atropine-like, and most patients suffered from dizziness. Imipramine was first tried against psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, but proved insufficient. As an antidepressant, it did well in clinical studies and it is known to work well in even the most severe cases of depression. It is not surprising, therefore, that imipramine may cause a high rate of manic and hypomanic reactions in hospitalized patients with pre-existing bipolar disorder, with one study showing that up to 25% of such patients maintained on Imipramine switched into mania or hypomania. Such powerful antidepressant properties have made it favorable in the treatment of treatment-resistant depression.
Before the advent of SSRIs, its sometimes intolerable side-effect profile was considered more tolerable. Therefore, it became extensively used as a standard antidepressant and later served as a prototypical drug for the development of the later-released tricyclics. Today it is no longer used as commonly, but is sometimes still prescribed as a second-line treatment for treating major depression . It has also seen limited use in the treatment of migraines, ADHD, and post concussive syndrome. Imipramine has additional indications for the treatment of panic attacks, chronic pain, and Kleine-Levin syndrome. In pediatric patients, it is relatively frequently used to treat pavor nocturnus and nocturnal enuresis.
Comparison with other antidepressants
Binding Profile of popular TCAs towards their cloned human (unless otherwise specified) molecular targets (Ki in nM)