[Study of a beta-adrenergic stimulant and its antidepressant activity in man].

In animals, the psychopharmacological profile of beta-adrenergic stimulants is very similar to that of tricyclic antidepressants. In patients, more particularly in endogenous depressive patients, the antidepressant effect of salbutamol was very clear. A definite improvement was observed in all of the 22 studied patients after 1 to 3 days of intermittent venous infusion. The place of salbutamol in the therapeutic armamentarium of depressive states has still to be defined exactly. It is speculated that the antidepressant effect of imipramine-like derivatives is related to the stimulation of central beta 2-adrenergic receptors.