For all controlled studies that bear upon the analgesic-effect of antidepressants, a meta-analysis was conducted to get an estimation of the effect size and to get a sight on the possible modes of action. For this purpose both content and methodological variables were coded for each study. The mean size of the analgesic effect is 0.63. This means that the average patient getting an antidepressant has less pain than 74% of the patients getting a placebo. However because of selective drop-out and the use of psychometri-cally inadequate pain scales, this may be an over-estimation. Real analgesic qualities of antidepressive agents seem to offer the most plausible explanation for the effect, but the importance of serotonin reuptake blocking is not confirmed. A main objection, however, is that in all studies the depression variable was insufficiently controlled at inclusion. Because both the estimation of the effect size as the explanation of the effect are confounded with methodological doubts, it is concluded that further studies need to be done to overcome these difficulties.

R,S-Oxazepam and R,S-temazepam can be separated in their enantiomers by means of a chiral AGP column. The corresponding R- and S-glucuronide conjugates can be separated on a normal reversed-phase C18 column. Man conjugates the S-enantiomer of oxazepam and temazepam both better than the R-enantiomer. The urinary recovery of the glucuronides following either R,S,-oxazepam or R,S-temazepam almost amounts to 100% of the dose administered.

A preclinical evaluation is presented of the serotonin 5-HT2 antagonists ritanserin and risperidone. Whereas ritanserin is a relative selective 5-HT2 antagonist, risperidone is a potent 5-HT2 and catecholamine antagonist. The pharmacological differences between both drugs are also observed in the drug discrimination test procedure. Using DOM, d-amphetamine and cocaine. Ritanserin was found active in animal models of anxiety using natural aversive stimuli; and in animal models of depression. Clear differences were observed between ritanserin and the benzodiazepines and between ritanserin and the tricyclic antidepressants. Risperidone was active in animal models of psychosis. Risperidone has, as opposed to classical neuroleptics such as haloperidol, less risks of inducing a dopamine D2 overblockade. Clinically, ritanserin is described as a thymostenic agent.

Risperidone is an antipsychotic with therapeutic effects on both the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia and with a reduced risk of extrapyramidal side-effects.