VOL 36 No. 3

DRUG DISPOSITIONS AND PHARMACOKINETICS

Clinical Significance of Drug Binding, Protein Binding, and Binding Displacement Drug Interactions

C. Lindsay DeVane, PharmD

Drugs widely used in clinical psychopharmacology, with few exceptions, are hepatically eliminated and circulate in the blood bound to plasma proteins. Often, the degree of binding is high (>90%). This fact has led to a...

Pages 5-21 Read Article

DRUG DISPOSITIONS AND PHARMACOKINETICS

Switching Antipsychotic Drugs: A Pharmacokinetic, Pharmacodynamic, and Practical Perspective

Michael W. Jann, PharmD, FCCP, BCPP, and Richard M. Bunt, MD

In the course of treatment of psychiatric patients, it is often necessary to switch antipsychotic medications. In recent years, atypical antipsychotic agents have become the first-line therapeutic interventions for treating psychotic symptoms. Reasons for switching...

Pages 22-41 Read Article

COMPLICATED CASE HISTORIES

Psychosis and Delirium Following Metabolife Use

Marcia L. Verduin, MD, and Lawrence A. Labbate, MD

Weight gain is a well-known complication of antipsychotic therapy, especially when using newer atypical antipsychotic agents. In addition to the risk of medical comorbidities associated with weight gain, such as diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease,...

Pages 42-45 Read Article

COMPLICATED CASE HISTORIES

Dependence, Dementia, Cerebellar Dysfunction, and Myopathy in Association With Chronic Isopropanol Ingestion

Cindy Hanawalt-Squires, PhD, MD, and Theodore J. Anfinson, MD

Little is known about the chronic sequelae of isopropanol ingestion. Acute effects of isopropanol ingestion include central nervous system depression, gastrointestinal irritation, impaired gluconeogenesis, delirium, hypotension, and coma. We present a case of a patient...

Pages 46-54 Read Article

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

The Effect of a Novel Dietary Intervention on Weight Loss in Psychotropic Drug-Induced Obesity

Judith J. Wurtman, PhD, Janine M. McDermott, MA, Philip Levendusky, PhD, Karen Duca, PhD, and Richard Wurtman, MD

Weight gain associated with the use of psychotropic drugs may be related to their blockade of serotonin receptors, which mediate satiety. Obese individuals whose weight gain followed psychotropic drug use, or control nondrug-treated obese subjects,...

Pages 55-59 Read Article

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Candidate Gene Studies in Eating Disorders

Federica Tozzi, MD, Andrew W. Bergen, PhD, and Cynthia M. Bulik, PhD

It has become increasingly clear that biological factors contribute to the etiology of eating disorders. Vulnerability to anorexia and bulimia nervosa is due, at least in part, to the effect of genes. The purpose of...

Pages 58-90 Read Article

GENERAL PSYCH0PHARMACOLOGY

M. Ojinga Harrison, MD: Antipsychotic Medications and Sudden Cardiac Death

M. Ojinga Harrison, MD, and K. Ranga Krishnan, MB, ChB

The objectives of this paper are to: 1) discuss practical aspects of antipsychotic-induced QT prolongation, torsades de pointes (TdP), and sudden cardiac death, 2) discuss its possible mechanisms, 3) review data for each antipsychotic medication...

Pages 91-99 Read Article

GENERAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY

Citalopram for the Treatment of Adolescent Anxiety Disorders: A Pilot Study

Jefferson B. Prince, MD, Jeff Q. Bostic, MD, EdD, Michael Monuteaux, BS, Kenneth Brown, MD, MPH, and Suzanne Place, LPN

Charts of 17 adolescent patients treated naturalistically with citalopram for various anxiety disorders were reviewed. Patients were retrospectively assessed using the Clinical Global Impression (CGI)-Severity scale at the beginning and end of treatment. Eighty-two percent...

Pages 100-107 Read Article

GENERAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY

Ginkgo Biloba: A Smart Drug? A Systematic Review of Controlled Trials of the Cognitive Effects of Ginkgo Biloba Extracts in Healthy People

Peter H. Canter, PhD, BSc, and Edward Ernst, MD, PhD, FRCP

Extracts of Ginkgo biloba are widely used to alleviate or delay the progress of age-related cognitive impairment. Its use as a “smart” drug by healthy individuals has also been commercially promoted. The aim of this...

Pages 108-123 Read Article

GENERAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY

Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors: A New Generation

Donald S. Robinson, MD

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), which ushered in the modern era of psychopharmacology in the 1950s, have remained useful in the treatment of depression despite important safety concerns, such as acute hypertensive episodes brought on by...

Pages 124-138 Read Article