Knowra Imipramine Imipramine Imipramine is a tricyclic antidepressant that reduces the reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin. It is used to treat depression and, in some cases, childhood bedwetting.
Norepinephrine transporter : A membrane protein that removes norepinephrine from synapses by transporting it into nerve cells. Imipramine blocks this transporter, increasing norepinephrine signaling.
Major depressive disorder : A mood disorder involving persistent depressed mood or loss of interest and other symptoms that impair daily functioning. Treating this disorder is imipramine's principal psychiatric use.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor : An antidepressant class that selectively inhibits serotonin reuptake, generally with fewer anticholinergic effects than tricyclic antidepressants. SSRIs are commonly preferred over imipramine for depression because they are generally safer in overdose.
Anticholinergic syndrome : A toxic state caused by excessive blockade of acetylcholine signaling, producing symptoms such as confusion, dry skin, and dilated pupils. Imipramine overdose can produce severe anticholinergic toxicity.
Roland Kuhn : A Swiss psychiatrist who identified imipramine's antidepressant effects in the 1950s. Kuhn's clinical observations established imipramine as a treatment for depression.
Serotonin transporter : A membrane protein that clears serotonin from synapses by transporting it into nerve cells. Imipramine also inhibits this transporter, though less selectively than modern antidepressants.
Nocturnal enuresis : Repeated involuntary urination during sleep in a person old enough for nighttime bladder control to be expected. Imipramine can reduce bedwetting in some children, although it is not usually a first-line treatment.
Clomipramine : A tricyclic antidepressant with especially strong serotonin reuptake inhibition, used notably for obsessive-compulsive disorder. It is a related tricyclic whose stronger serotonergic action distinguishes it from imipramine.
Tricyclic antidepressant overdose : A potentially fatal poisoning marked by neurologic, cardiovascular, and anticholinergic toxicity from excessive tricyclic antidepressant exposure. Imipramine overdose can rapidly cause seizures, arrhythmias, coma, or death.
Geigy : A Swiss pharmaceutical company that developed imipramine before merging into Ciba-Geigy. The company developed the drug that became one of the first widely used antidepressants.
Show all 26