Combined use of molindone and guanethidine in patients with schizophrenia and hypertension.

Human sympathetic nerves have a high-affinity norepinephrine uptake system. This uptake system is inhibited competitively by chlorpromazine but not by molindone, which suggests that molindone will not interact adversely with guanethidine, an antihypertensive drug that enters sympathetic nerves via the high-affinity uptake system. Accordingly, patients with concomitant schizophrenia and hypertension were treated simultaneously with molindone and guanethidine; there was no evidence of an adverse drug interaction. The data indicate that molindone and guanethidine can be used in combination safely and effectively.