Pharmacologic Properties of Venlafaxine

Letter to the Editor

Sir: Findling et al. (May 1996 issue) report on their study of
venlafaxine in adult ADHD. Their rationale for the research was
simply that venlafaxine is an antidepressant; the fact that the
medication and its metabolite, O-desmethylvenlafaxine (ODV),
are weak inhibitors of dopamine reuptake is not mentioned.
Even in the brief paragraph on the pharmacology of venlafaxine,
its dopaminergic property is not alluded to, although
there is a general statement that, like tricyclic antidepressants,
venlafaxine inhibits synaptic monoamine reuptake.