Trifluoperazine, marketed under the brand name Stelazine among others, is a typical antipsychotic primarily used to treat

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

. It may also be used short term in those with generalized anxiety disorder but is less preferred to

benzodiazepines Benzodiazepines (BZD, BDZ, BZs), sometimes called "benzos", are a class of depressant drugs whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. They are prescribed to treat conditions such as anxiety disorders, i ...

. It is of the

phenothiazine Phenothiazine, abbreviated PTZ, is an organic compound that has the formula S(C6H4)2NH and is related to the thiazine-class of heterocyclic compounds. Derivatives of phenothiazine are highly bioactive and have widespread use and rich history. T ...

chemical class Chemical classification systems attempt to classify elements or compounds according to certain chemical functional or structural properties. Whereas the structural properties are largely intrinsic, functional properties and the derived classificat ...

Medical uses

Schizophrenia

Trifluoperazine is an effective

antipsychotic Antipsychotics, also known as neuroleptics, are a class of Psychiatric medication, psychotropic medication primarily used to manage psychosis (including delusions, hallucinations, paranoia or disordered thought), principally in schizophrenia but ...

for people with schizophrenia. There is low-quality evidence that trifluoperazine increases the chance of being improved when compared to placebo when people are followed up for 19 weeks. There is low-quality evidence that trifluoperazine reduces the risk of relapse when compared with placebo when people are followed for 5 months. As of 2014 there was no good evidence for a difference between trifluoperazine and

placebo A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. In general ...

with respect to the risk of experiencing intensified symptoms over a 16-week period nor in reducing significant agitation or distress. There is no good evidence that trifluoperazine is more effective for schizophrenia than lower-potency antipsychotics like chlorpromazine,

chlorprothixene Chlorprothixene, sold under the brand name Truxal among others, is a typical antipsychotic of the thioxanthene group. Medical uses Chlorprothixene's principal indications are the treatment of psychotic disorders (e.g. schizophrenia) and of acu ...

, thioridazine and levomepromazine, but trifluoperazine appears to cause more adverse effects than these drugs.

Other

It appears to be effective for people with generalized anxiety disorder but the benefitrisk ratio was unclear as of 2005. It has been experimentally used as a drug to kill

eukaryotic Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacte ...

pathogens in humans.

Side effects

Its use in many parts of the world has declined because of highly frequent and severe early and late tardive dyskinesia, a type of extrapyramidal symptom. The annual development rate of tardive dyskinesia may be as high as 4%. A 2004

meta-analysis A meta-analysis is a statistical analysis that combines the results of multiple scientific studies. Meta-analyses can be performed when there are multiple scientific studies addressing the same question, with each individual study reporting me ...

of the studies on trifluoperazine found that it is more likely than placebo to cause extrapyramidal side effects such as akathisia,

dystonia Dystonia is a neurological hyperkinetic movement disorder in which sustained or repetitive muscle contractions result in twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal fixed postures. The movements may resemble a tremor. Dystonia is often inten ...

, and

Parkinsonism Parkinsonism is a clinical syndrome characterized by tremor, bradykinesia (slowed movements), rigidity, and postural instability. These are the four motor symptoms found in Parkinson's disease (PD), after which it is named, dementia with Lewy bo ...

. It is also more likely to cause

somnolence Somnolence (alternatively sleepiness or drowsiness) is a state of strong desire for sleep, or sleeping for unusually long periods (compare hypersomnia). It has distinct meanings and causes. It can refer to the usual state preceding falling asleep ...

and anticholinergic side effects such as red eye and xerostomia (dry mouth). All antipsychotics can cause the rare and sometimes fatal neuroleptic malignant syndrome. Trifluoperazine can lower the seizure threshold. The antimuscarinic action of trifluoperazine can cause excessive dilation of the pupils (

mydriasis Mydriasis is the dilation of the pupil, usually having a non-physiological cause, or sometimes a physiological pupillary response. Non-physiological causes of mydriasis include disease, trauma, or the use of certain types of drugs. Normally, as ...

), which increases the chances of patients with hyperopia developing

glaucoma Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...

Contraindications

Trifluoperazine is contraindicated in

CNS depression Central nervous system (CNS) depression is a physiological state that can result in a decreased rate of breathing, decreased heart rate, and loss of consciousness possibly leading to coma or death. It is the result of inhibited or suppressed brai ...

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

, and

blood dyscrasia In medicine, both ancient and modern, a dyscrasia is any of various disorders. The word has ancient Greek roots meaning "bad mixture". The concept of dyscrasia was developed by the Greek physician Galen (129–216 AD), who elaborated a model of h ...

s. Trifluoperazine should be used with caution in patients suffering from renal or hepatic impairment.

Mechanism of action

Trifluoperazine has central

antiadrenergic An adrenergic antagonist is a drug that inhibits the function of adrenergic receptors. There are five adrenergic receptors, which are divided into two groups. The first group of receptors are the beta (β) adrenergic receptors. There are β1, β2 ...

antidopaminergic A dopamine antagonist, also known as an anti-dopaminergic and a dopamine receptor antagonist (DRA), is a type of drug which blocks dopamine receptors by receptor antagonism. Most antipsychotics are dopamine antagonists, and as such they have ...

, and minimal anticholinergic effects. It is believed to work by blockading dopamine D₁ and D₂ receptors in the

mesocortical The mesocortical pathway is a dopaminergic pathway that connects the ventral tegmentum to the prefrontal cortex. It is one of the four major dopamine pathways in the brain. It is essential to the normal cognitive function of the dorsolateral pre ...

and

mesolimbic pathway The mesolimbic pathway, sometimes referred to as the reward pathway, is a dopaminergic pathway in the brain. The pathway connects the ventral tegmental area in the midbrain to the ventral striatum of the basal ganglia in the forebrain. The ventral ...

s, relieving or minimizing such symptoms of schizophrenia as hallucinations,

delusion A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or some o ...

s, and disorganized thought and speech. It also has antihistaminergic properties ( H₁ K_i = 17.5).

Names

Brand names include Eskazinyl, Eskazine, Jatroneural, Modalina, Sizonil, Stelazine, Stilizan, Terfluzine, Trifluoperaz and Triftazin. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and some other countries, trifluoperazine is sold and marketed under the brand 'Stelazine'. The drug is sold as tablet, liquid and 'Trifluoperazine-injectable USP' for deep

intramuscular Intramuscular injection, often abbreviated IM, is the injection of a substance into a muscle. In medicine, it is one of several methods for parenteral administration of medications. Intramuscular injection may be preferred because muscles have l ...

short-term use. GP studying pharmacological data has indicated cases of neck vertebrae irreversible fusing leading to NHS preparations being predominantly of the liquid form trifluoperazine as opposed to the tablet form as in Stela zine etc. In the past, trifluoperazine was used in fixed combinations with the

MAO inhibitor Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are a class of drugs that inhibit the activity of one or both monoamine oxidase enzymes: monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) and monoamine oxidase B (MAO-B). They are best known as effective antidepressants, espec ...

(antidepressant)

tranylcypromine Tranylcypromine, sold under the brand name Parnate among others,Drugs.co Page accessed April 17, 2016 is a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI). More specifically, tranylcypromine acts as nonselective and irreversible inhibitor of the enzyme mono ...

( tranylcypromine/trifluoperazine) to attenuate the strong stimulating effects of this antidepressant. This combination was sold under the brand name Jatrosom N. Likewise a combination with amobarbital (potent sedative/hypnotic agent) for the amelioration of psychoneurosis and

insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...

existed under the brand name Jalonac. In

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

the first combination is still available, sold under the brand name Parmodalin (10 mg of tranylcypromine and 1 mg of trifluoperazine).

References

{{Tricyclics Trifluoromethyl compounds Phenothiazines Piperazines Typical antipsychotics