Posted by frisco on April 3, 2003, at 17:19:12
In reply to MAOI inhibitor, posted by nectar otg on March 8, 2003, at 21:46:04
> Is Abilify an MAOI inhibitor? Could not find info on abilify.com... thanks.
Abilify is not a MAOI Inhibitor - MAOI Inhibitors are rarely used anymore. MAOI stands for Mono Amine Oxidase Inhibitor - basically its another way to increase neurotransmitter (particularly serotonin) levels in the brain - This type of drug acts to keep serotonin from being broken down - so basically the serotonin can be used to stimulate more receptors. Abilify is a dopamine-serotonin partial-agonist (basically a thermostat for dopamine and serotonin to an extent). What this means is if someone has high levels of dopamine or a serotonin, Abilify will bring the levels down. High levels of dopamine in certain areas of the brain can cause hallucinations and delusions. In other areas of the brain this new drug could potentially increase dopamine levels if someone needs a little more in those areas - what this does theoretically is minimize side effects like breast tenderness and long term extrapyramidal symptoms. Its a pretty smart drug or at least a smart concept. The concept of Dopamine/Serotonin stabilization was first postulated by a man named Carlsson - dont know actual spelling? - he won the Nobel prize for this concept in my understanding. Hope that helps.
poster:frisco
thread:129761
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030402/msgs/215924.html