The effects of idazoxan on reaction times, eye movements and the mood of healthy volunteers and patients with upper respiratory tract illnesses
Abstract
An experiment was carried out to determine whether idazoxan, a drug which increases the turnover of central noradrenaline, removes the malaise (reduced alertness, slower psychomotor performance) associated with upper respiratory tract illness (URTI). Eighty-one volunteers were tested when healthy and 17 returned to the laboratory when they developed URTIs. Those who remained healthy were then recalled as a control group. Volunteers were tested before and after receiving either idazoxan (40 mg) or a lactose placebo. Idazoxan removed the URTI-induced slowing in a simple reaction time task and this group performed at a comparable level to the healthy group. No significant stimulant effect of idazoxan was found in the healthy subjects. The results suggest that at least part of the malaise induced by URTIs may reflect reductions in central noradrenaline and that this can be reversed by compounds such as idazoxan.
Get full access to this article
View all access and purchase options for this article.
References
Ball D M, Glue P, Wilson S, Nutt D J (1991) Pharmacology of saccadic eye movements in man. 1: Effects of the benzodiazepine receptor ligands midazolam and flumazenil. Psychopharmacology 105: 361-367
Coull J T, Sahakian B J, Hodges J R (1996) The alpha-2 antagonist idazoxan remediates certain attentional and executive dysfunction in patients with dementia of frontal type. Psychopharmacology 123: 239-249
Coupland N J, Bailey J E, Wilson S J, Porter W Z, Nutt D J (1994) A pharmacodynamic study of the alpha-2 adrenergic receptor antagonist ethoxyidazoxan in healthy volunteers. Clin Pharmarcol Therapeut 56:420-429
Coupland N J, Marshall R W, Wilson S J, Nutt D J (1995) The use of saccadic eye movement measures in psychopharmacology. In Hindmarch I, Stonier P D (eds), Human psychopharmacology, Vol. 5. John Wiley, Chichester
Glue P, White E, Wilson S, Ball D M, Nutt D J (1991) Pharmacology of saccadic eye movements in man. II: Effects of the alpha-2 adrenoceptor ligands idazoxan and clonidine. Psychopharmacology 105: 368-373
Gujtton D, Buchtel H A, Douglas R M (1985) Frontal lobe lesions in man cause difficulties in suppressing reflexive glances and in generating goal directed saccades. Exp Brain Res 58: 455-472
Hall S, Smith A P (1996) Investigation of the effects and after-effects of naturally occurring upper respiratory tract illnesses on mood and performance. Physiol Behav 59: 569-577
Mallard N J, Hudson A L, Nutt D J (1992 ) Characterization and autoradiographical localization of non-adrenoceptor idazoxan binding sites in the rat brain. Br J Pharmacol 106: 1019-1027
Smith A P, Nutt D J (1996) Noradrenaline and attention lapses. Nature 380: 291-291
Smith A P, Tyrrell D A J, Coyle K B, Higgins P G (1991) Effects and after-effects of interferon alpha on human performance, mood and physiological function. J Psychopharmacol 5: 243-250
Smith A P, Tyrrell D A, Barrow G I, Higgins P G, Willman J S, Bull S, Coyle K B, Trickett S (1992) Mood and experimentally induced respiratory virus infections and illnesses. Psychol Health 6: 205-212
Smith A P, Thomas M, Brockman P (1993) Noise, respiratory virus infections and performance. Actes Inrets 34: 535-538
Smith A P, Whitney H, Thomas M, Brockman P, Perry K (1995) A comparison of the acute effects of a low dose of alcohol on mood and performance of healthy volunteers and subjects with upper respiratory tract illnesses. J Psychopharmacol 9: 267-272
Smith A P, Thomas M, Perry K, Whitney J (1997) Caffeine and the common cold. J Psychopharmacol 11: 319-324
Cite article
Cite article
Cite article
OR
Download to reference manager
If you have citation software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice
Information, rights and permissions
Information
Published In
Article first published: March 1999
Issue published: March 1999
Keywords
History
Published online: March 1, 1999
Issue published: March 1999
PubMed: 10475720
Authors
Metrics and citations
Metrics
Journals metrics
This article was published in Journal of Psychopharmacology.
VIEW ALL JOURNAL METRICSArticle usage*
Total views and downloads: 19
*Article usage tracking started in December 2016
Altmetric
See the impact this article is making through the number of times it’s been read, and the Altmetric Score.
Learn more about the Altmetric Scores
Articles citing this one
Web of Science: 16 view articles Opens in new tab
Crossref: 14
- Imidazoline I2 receptor inhibitor idazoxan regulates the progression o...
- Nasal decongestants in monotherapy for the common cold
- Is there a dysgenic secular trend towards slowing simple reaction time...
- Effects of upper respiratory tract illnesses, ibuprofen and caffeine o...
- Were the Victorians cleverer than us? The decline in general intellige...
- Effects of upper respiratory tract illnesses and stress on alertness a...
- Is there any evidence of historical slowing of reaction time? No, unle...
- Twenty-five years of research on the behavioural malaise associated wi...
- Effects of the common cold on mood, psychomotor performance, the encod...
- Behavioral Effects of Upper Respiratory Tract Illnesses: A Considerati...
- Simple reaction time: It is not what it used to be
- Selective effects of upper respiratory tract infection on cognition, m...
- Caffeine and Central Noradrenaline: Effects on Mood, Cognitive Perform...
- Effects of upper respiratory tract illnesses on mood and performance o...
Figures and tables
Figures & Media
Tables
View Options
Get access
Access options
If you have access to journal content via a personal subscription, university, library, employer or society, select from the options below:
loading institutional access options
Alternatively, view purchase options below:
Purchase 24 hour online access to view and download content.
Access journal content via a DeepDyve subscription or find out more about this option.
