Neuropsychological profiles of calcium antagonists.

The present study aims at reviewing the preclinical evidence suggesting that calcium antagonists exert bio-behavioural effects that may have some relevance to CNS pharmacology, and thus to psychiatry. We briefly address the question of whether calcium antagonists share the following profiles; anxiolytic, antidepressant, neuroleptic, anticonvulsant, analgesic and memory-enhancing. This survey suggests that calcium antagonists and, more especially, dihydropyridine derivatives share all these profiles together. There are, however, important limitations in the interpretation of these preclinical data. Whether the various calcium antagonists may have varying profiles, and thus varying potential psychiatric applications, cannot be explored in depth as there are few comparative data on these drugs on a large variety of animal models. In addition, the doses of calcium antagonists reported to produce behavioural responses are generally higher than the doses sufficient to produce other pharmacodynamic actions. Thus, the possibility that these former responses could be secondary to these latter actions cannot be excluded.