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Treatment of experimental imipramine and desipramine poisoning in the rat

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Abstract

The influence of orally administered activated charcoal on organ concentrations of parenteral imipramine and desipramine was investigated. Ancillary distribution experiments indicated that the gastroenteral cycle of these substances might be more important than the enterohepatic cycle. Nevertheless the effectiveness of repeated activated charcoal dosage in lowering antidepressant concentrations in visceral organs is unpredictable. This is interpreted as a consequence of predominant binding of these drugs in the tissues, in contrast to drugs like acetosal and the barbiturates, which are distributed more evenly in the body water. The conclusion is, that activated charcoal has only limited value as an antidotal adsorbent in imipramine or desipramine poisoning.

Zusammenfassung

Im Tiermodell der Imipraminvergiftung wurde der Einfluß von Aktivkohle auf Imipraminkonzentrationen in den Organen untersucht. Aus nebenbei durchgeführten Verteilungsexperimenten stellte sich heraus, daß für Imipramin und Desipramin ein gastroenteraler Kreislauf vorlag, der quantitativ wichtiger war als der seit langem bekannte enterohepatische Kreislauf.

Wiederholte Dosierung mit Aktivkohle führt jedoch zu wechselnden Ergebnissen, soweit es die Organkonzentrationen beider Wirkstoffe betrifft. Das Ergebnis wird interpretiert als eine Folge der starken Gewebsbindung von Imipramin und Desipramin im Gegensatz zu Arzneimitteln wie Acetosal und die Barbiturate, die auch in vivo stark an Aktivkohle adsorbiert werden.

Die Ergebnisse führen zu der Schlußfolgerung, daß Aktivkohle nur beschränkt wirksam ist als Antidot bei der Imipramin- und Desipraminvergiftung.

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These results were partly communicated at the Spring Meeting of the Deutsche Pharmakologische Gesellschaft in Mainz, March 1974.

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Rauws, A.G., Olling, M. Treatment of experimental imipramine and desipramine poisoning in the rat. Arch Toxicol 35, 97–106 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00372763

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00372763

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