Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics of Fluoxetine: A Review

Drugs are discovered by a variety of approaches, which include a systematic evaluation of synthetic compounds, using extensive structure activity relationships. After a lead compound which possesses desirable pharmacological properties is found, through the exhaustive screening of a variety of compounds, a number of congeners are then synthesised and tested, using specific physiological or biochemical models of therapeutic agents. The discovery of fluoxetine involved this complex process, and led to the description in the literature of one of the first selective serotonin uptake inhibitors (Wong et al , 1974); it was subsequently tested clinically, and these studies demonstrated its effectiveness and safety as an antidepressant drug (Chouinard, 1985). This paper reviews the published information relevant to fluoxetine's pharmacology and pharmacokinetics in man.