Posted by Brainbeard on January 26, 2010, at 4:09:17
In reply to Re: Prozac dosage questions » Brainbeard, posted by KarenRB53 on January 25, 2010, at 8:25:42
> What is the difference between a reuptake inhibitor and a reuptake disinhibitor?
>
> Thanks, KarenA reuptake inhibitor blocks the reuptake of a neurotransmitter in the synapse, making more of the neurotransmitter hang around in the synaptic cleft, which means that receptors sensitive to that neurotransmitter will be flooded by it. So, a serotonin reuptake inhibitor basically makes your brain soak in serotonin. The consequences are an even more complicated story.
There doesn't exist such a thing as a reuptake disinhibitor. Prozac and other drugs are a dopamine and noradrenaline disinhibitor. It means that by 'antagonizing', which means blocking, certain receptor subtypes, they block the brake on certain neurotranmitters. Prozac is a 5HT2C-antagonist. 5HT2C receptors are a serotonin receptor subtype (5HT=serotonin) that put a brake on dopamine and noradrenaline. So if you block the functioning of these receptors (i.e. 5HT2C-antagonism), they can no longer put a brake on dopamine and noradrenaline and hence these neurotransmitters are 'disinhibited', i.e. they are boosted.
poster:Brainbeard
thread:904045
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100122/msgs/935011.html