Summary
Plasma antipyrine half-lives were measured in thirty adult subjects before and after 7 and 28 days treatment with one of five tricyclic antidepressants. Overall, considering the five antidepressants together, there was a small but significant reduction in half-life after both periods of treatment. In four subjects studied, increased urinary output of 6β-hydroxycortisol following chronic nortriptyline treatment provides further evidence of a stimulatory effect of tricyclic antidepressant on drug metabolism. In a separate study, the induction effect of tricyclic antidepressants was found to be much less marked than that with amylobarbitone. It would seem therefore that tricyclic antidepressants are less likely than barbiturates, to bring about drug interactions by altering drug metabolism.
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O'Malley, K., Browning, M., Stevenson, I. et al. Stimulation of drug metabolism in man by tricyclic antidepressants. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 6, 102–106 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00562435
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00562435