Melitracen hydrochloride

Melitracen blocks the uptake of norepinephrine and serotonin into axon terminals and may blocks some subtypes of serotonin, adrenergic, and histamine receptors. However the mechanism of their antidepressant effects is not clear because the therapeutic effects usually take weeks to develop and may reflect compensatory changes in the central nervous system. Currently, it is not known how exactly melitracen works. Some medical researchers have suggested that it can be considered a non-selective monoamine reuptake inhibitor. This means that it suppresses the reuptake, or reabsorption, of monoamine, which is a neurotransmitter that contains one amine group. This consequently leads to the increase of monoamimes, such as dopamine and serotonin, the latter notable for being a "feel-good" agent. Others have suggested that it has the same pharmacology as other TCAs such as amitriptyline or imipramine.