Posted by undopaminergic on June 30, 2008, at 7:17:03
In reply to Re: a side note on strattera, posted by dbc on June 28, 2008, at 10:12:05
> A side note on strattera
>
> Strattera actually has quite a bit of dopamine activity in the frontal cortex and a few other certain regions that are far beyond whats expected from an NRI. Strattera's kind of unique and weird, i think its method of action is some sort of trade secret because its not a simple NRI by any stretch despite what Eli Lilly would say.
>I think the PFC DA effect is to be expected from any potent NRI, rather than just Strattera. The reason is that the noradrenaline (NA) transporter protein appears to account for most of the DA reuptake activity in the PFC, but not in the nucleus accumbens and most other regions.
It's not really surprising that the NA transporter has significant affinity for DA, because DA is the precursor of NA, and therefore a very valuable material to noradrenergic neurons. It is also interesting to speculate about the possibility that NA nerve terminals might steal too much DA from dopaminergic neurons, and thus cause dysfunction of the latter. Because the PFC is a region that is particularly sensitive to excessive or insufficient levels of the catecholamines, relatively minor disturbances may result in serious impairment of working memory, executive functions and other processes where the PFC plays a major role. In other words, one reason for the efficacy of Strattera in ADHD may be its ability to reduce diversion of DA, thus correcting a DA deficit.
poster:undopaminergic
thread:836663
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080626/msgs/837266.html