Azapirones may be less effective than benzodiazepines and we were unable to conclude if azapirones were superior to antidepressants , kava kava or psychotherapy .
Azapirones appeared to be well tolerated .
Azapirones appeared to be useful in the treatment of GAD , particularly for those participants who had not been on a benzodiazepine .
Azapirones may not be superior to benzodiazepines and do not appear as acceptable as benzodiazepines .
Side effects appeared mild and non serious in the azapirone treated group .
Longer term studies are needed to show that azapirones are effective in treating GAD , which is a chronic long-term illness
BACKGROUND Azapirones are a group of drugs that work at the 5-HT1A receptor and are used to treat patients suffering from generalized anxiety disorder ( GAD ) .
However , several studies have shown conflicting results .
Whether azapirones are useful as first line treatment in general anxiety disorders still needs to be answered .
OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy and the acceptability of azapirones for the treatment of GAD .
Establishing the maximum tolerated dose of lesopitron in patients with generalized anxiety disorder: a bridging study.
Lesopitron , a 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A agonist , is a new potential anxiolytic of the azapirone class . It has greater potency in animal models of anxiety than buspirone , gepirone , or ipsapirone , and it lacks the antidopaminergic effects associated with buspirone . Lesopitron has been tolerated at single doses up to 50 mg and repeated dosages of 45 mg/day in healthy volunteers . Forty-two patients with generalized anxiety disorder ( GAD ) were enrolled in this double-blind bridging study to determine the safety and tolerability of fixed doses of lesopitron ( 20 , 25 , 30 , 40 , 45 , 50 , and 60 mg two times a day ) over a 6 1/2-day inpatient administration period . Each of the seven panels included six patients ( four drug/two placebo ) . One patient in the 25-mg , two-times-a-day panel voluntarily withdrew because of increased anxiety symptoms . One patient experienced severe orthostatic hypotension at 60 mg two times a day , and moderate to severe adverse events ( dizziness , lightheadedness , nausea , headache ) occurred in two other patients at this dosage . The most commonly reported adverse events in all the panels were headache , dizziness , and nausea .  Lesopitron is rapidly absorbed in patients , having a time to maximum concentration ( Tmax ) ranging from 0.5 to 1 hour , and its elimination half-life ranged from 1.1 to 5.6 hours . Peak plasma concentrations showed high interindividual variability for lesopitron , but increased linearly with dose for the main metabolite , 5-hydroxylesopitron . We defined the maximum tolerated dose in GAD patients as 50 mg two times a day , twice as high as the highest dose tested in healthy volunteers
Azapirones may be less effective than benzodiazepines and we were unable to conclude if azapirones were superior to antidepressants , kava kava or psychotherapy .
Azapirones appeared to be well tolerated .
Azapirones appeared to be useful in the treatment of GAD , particularly for those participants who had not been on a benzodiazepine .
Azapirones may not be superior to benzodiazepines and do not appear as acceptable as benzodiazepines .
Side effects appeared mild and non serious in the azapirone treated group .
Longer term studies are needed to show that azapirones are effective in treating GAD , which is a chronic long-term illness
BACKGROUND Azapirones are a group of drugs that work at the 5-HT1A receptor and are used to treat patients suffering from generalized anxiety disorder ( GAD ) .
However , several studies have shown conflicting results .
Whether azapirones are useful as first line treatment in general anxiety disorders still needs to be answered .
OBJECTIVES To assess the efficacy and the acceptability of azapirones for the treatment of GAD .