Chemicals and Drugs

Tricyclic Antidepressive Agents

Substances that contain a fused three-ring moiety and are used in the treatment of depression. These drugs block the uptake of norepinephrine and serotonin into axon terminals and may block 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.

National Library of MedicineMedical Subject Headings2026

Structured Summary

Abstract

Substances that contain a fused three-ring moiety and are used in the treatment of depression. These drugs block the uptake of norepinephrine and serotonin into axon terminals and may block 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.

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Classification

Broader headings

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Synonyms

15 entry terms
  • Antidepressant Drugs, Tricyclic
  • Antidepressants, Tricyclic
  • Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic
  • Tricyclic Antidepressant
  • Tricyclic Antidepressant Drug
  • Tricyclic Antidepressive Agent
  • Agent, Tricyclic Antidepressive
  • Agents, Tricyclic Antidepressive
  • Antidepressant Drug, Tricyclic
  • Antidepressant, Tricyclic
  • Antidepressive Agent, Tricyclic
  • Drug, Tricyclic Antidepressant
  • Drugs, Tricyclic Antidepressant
  • Tricyclic Antidepressant Drugs
  • Tricyclic Antidepressants

MeSH Record

Aspects Covered

22 allowable subheadings

Indexed with the subheadings administration & dosage, adverse effects, analysis, blood, cerebrospinal fluid, chemical synthesis, chemistry, classification, economics, history, immunology, isolation & purification, metabolism, pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, poisoning, radiation effects, standards, supply & distribution, therapeutic use, toxicity, urine.

MeSH Record

History Note

75

MeSH Record

Previous Indexing

  • Antidepressive Agents (1968-1974)

MeSH Hierarchy

Tree Number

  1. D27.505.954.427.700.122w.055w

AMA Style

References

  1. National Library of Medicine. Tricyclic Antidepressive Agents. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). 2026. Unique ID D000929. http://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/2026/D000929
  2. Tricyclic Antidepressive Agents. In: Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricyclic_antidepressant
  3. Tricyclic Antidepressive Agents. In: Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q908843