Js. Kerr et al., THE EFFECTS OF BROFAROMINE ALONE AND IN CONJUNCTION WITH ALCOHOL ON COGNITIVE FUNCTION, PSYCHOMOTOR PERFORMANCE, MOOD AND SLEEP IN HEALTHY-VOLUNTEERS, Human psychopharmacology, 8(2), 1993, pp. 107-116
Brofaromine is a novel antidepressant that functions by the inhibition
of the A form of monoamine oxidase (MAO). This inhibition is reversib
le, making brofaromine both pharmacologically and structurally differe
nt from most of the currently available MAO inhibitors. The drug has b
een shown to be clinically effective and to have significantly fewer p
roblems than other MAO inhibitors in terms of hepatic toxicity and int
eraction with tyramine and co-administered tricyclic antidepressants.
The present experiment was designed to assess the behavioural toxicity
of the drug. Seventeen normal volunteers received brofaromine 50 mg o
r 75 mg, amitriptyline 50 mg or placebo with and without alcohol in a
double blind eight-way crossover study. A psychometric test battery wa
s administered at 3, 6 and 12 h post-dose. The results show that brofa
romine had little or no effect on the measures employed, compared to p
lacebo. The amitriptyline verum (with and without alcohol) however low
ered critical flicker fusion threshold compared to placebo at all test
points, increased reaction time, increased tracking error, and slowed
memory scanning. It is concluded that, in volunteers, acute doses of
brofaromine are free from disruptive effects on cognitive function and
psychomotor performance, in contrast to both amitriptyline and alcoho
l which showed debilitating effects on most of the measures employed.