The effects of alaproclate on the pupillary responses to tyramine, phenylephrine and pilocarpine in depressed patients.

Nine depressed patients were treated with alaproclate, a selective 5-HT uptake inhibitor, for 3 weeks in a dose of 400 mg daily. The pupillary responses to tyramine, phenylephrine, and pilocarpine eye drops were measured on consecutive days before, after 1 week and after 3 weeks of treatment. The tyramine-induced mydriasis was unaffected by alaproclate, suggesting that it does not significantly inhibit the reuptake of noradrenaline. The pilocarpine-induced miosis and the phenylephrine-induced mydriasis were both enhanced after 1 week but not after 3 weeks of treatment. This suggests that alaproclate acutely increases the responsiveness of postsynaptic muscarinic and alpha 1 adrenoceptors.