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Calcium channel blockade: possible explanation for thioridazine's peripheral side effects

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.141.3.352

The authors show that thioridazine possesses calcium antagonist activity which may relate to its cardiac and sexual side effects. Binding sites associated with voltage-operated calcium channels were labeled by 3H-nitrendipine. Thioridazine influenced this binding of 3H- nitrendipine in a fashion similar to known calcium antagonists such as verapamil. Thioridazine also antagonized potassium-induced, calcium- dependent contractions of rat vas deferens, with similar potency. Thioridazine concentrations that exert calcium channel antagonist effects correspond to blood levels at therapeutic doses.

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