Cardiovascular reflexes during treatment of social phobia with moclobemide

INTRODUCTION: Cardiovascular side-effects are less frequent with moclobemide than with tricyclic or monoamine oxidase inhibitor antidepressants. We performed a detailed assessment of cardiovascular reflexes in 15 patients meeting DSM-III-R criteria for social phobia, before treatment and whilst taking a stable dose of moclobemide for a median of 7 weeks. METHOD: Cardiovascular reflex responses to standing, deep breathing and the Valsalva manoeuvre were assessed using beat-by-beat blood pressure and heart rate recording. RESULTS: Moclobemide produced a statistically significant, but clinically modest, degree of improvement in social phobia symptoms. Only the maximum change in heart rate from supine to standing showed a change from before to after treatment, which was not statistically significant after Bonferroni correction, and there was no consistent pattern of altered sympathetic or parasympathetic function. CONCLUSION: Moclobemide is relatively devoid of cardiovascular autonomic effects in physically healthy subjects with social phobia. ( Int J Psych Clin Pract 2001; 5:27-31)