STUDY OBJECTIVES: To investigate potential stimulant and anticataplectic effects of 10 mg reboxetine in patients diagnosed with narcolepsy. 

DESIGN: 12 patients were treated for a 2-week period with 10 mg reboxetine under open conditions. The dosage of reboxetine was gradually increased between Day 1 and Day 9. Outcome parameters consisted of nightime polysomnography (PSG), Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Visual Analog Scale for Sleepiness (VAS), Ullanlinna Narcolepsy Scale (UNS), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). 

SETTING: Sleep Disorders Clinic at a University Hospital. 

PATIENTS: 12 patients meeting ICSD-criteria for narcolepsy. 

INTERVENTIONS: Pharmacological treatment with reboxetine. 

RESULTS: Following treatment for two-weeks, a significant improvement in daytime sleepiness could be observed, as reflected by a mean decrease of 48.6% on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and a mean increase of 54.7% in sleep latency on the MSLT. Furthermore, a significant reduction in the cataplexy subscore of the Ullanlinna Narcolepsy Scale and in REM-sleep was found. 

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that reboxetine exerts stimulant and anticataplectic effects in narcolepsy. Contrary to previous thinking, by which stimulant action would require dopaminergic facilitation, noradrenergic mechanisms might be relevant to the control of wakefulness.

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                Reboxetine  research / abstracts

         1.   Reboxetine  role in antidepressant therapy
         2.   Reboxetine  efficacy and tolerability
         3.   Reboxetine  clinical pharmacologic profile
         4.   Inhibiting  the reuptake of noradrenaline and serotonin
         5.   Reboxetine  and depression in the elderly
         6.   Reboxetine  with severe major depressive disorder
         7.   Reboxetine  clinical efficacy in major depression
         8.   Reboxetine  tolerability and safety for major depression
         9.   Reboxetine  comparison with fluoxetine
        10   Reboxetine  versus fluoxetine, impact on social functioning
        11.  Reboxetine  versus fluoxetine, differential effects
        12.  Reboxetine  prevents relapse in  major depression
        13   Reboxetine  efficacy compared with imipramine
        14.  Noradrenaline reuptake inhibition
        15.  Antidepressants  noradrenergic versus serotonergic 
        16.  Reboxetine  in the treatment of bulimia
        17.  Reboxetine  hemodynamic effects in healthy males
        18.  Reboxetine  effects of antidepressant therapy
        19.  Reboxetine  place in antidepressant therapy
        20.  Reboxetine  stimulant effects in patients with narcolepsy
        21.  Reboxetine  selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (NARI)