Dimetacrine (brand names Istonil, Istonyl, Linostil, Miroistonil), also known as dimethacrine and acripramine, is a

tricyclic antidepressant Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) are a class of medications that are used primarily as antidepressants, which is important for the management of depression. They are second-line drugs next to SSRIs. TCAs were discovered in the early 1950s and wer ...

(TCA) used in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and formerly in Japan for the treatment of depression. It has

imipramine Imipramine, sold under the brand name Tofranil, among others, is a tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) mainly used in the treatment of depression. It is also effective in treating anxiety and panic disorder. The drug is also used to treat bedwetting. ...

-like effects; though, in a

double-blind In a blind or blinded experiment, information which may influence the participants of the experiment is withheld until after the experiment is complete. Good blinding can reduce or eliminate experimental biases that arise from a participants' expec ...

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, diet ...

against imipramine, dimetacrine was found to have lower efficacy in comparison and produced more

weight loss Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health, or physical fitness, refers to a reduction of the total body mass, by a mean loss of fluid, body fat ( adipose tissue), or lean mass (namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon, and other co ...

and abnormal liver tests. Little is known about the pharmacology of dimetacrine, but it can be inferred that it acts in a similar manner to other TCAs. If this is indeed the case, dimetacrine may induce severe cardiac toxicity in overdose (a side effect unique to the tricyclic class of antidepressants).

References

Dimethylamino compounds Tricyclic antidepressants {{nervous-system-drug-stub

See also

References