Following an open pilot trial, meptazinol [m(3-ethyl-l-methyl-hexahydro-l-Hazepin-3-yl) phenol hydrochloride] was compared to pethidine in a single-blind study in women requiring analgesia during labour. Meptazinol provided significantly better analgesia than pethidine with similar but possibly less distressing maternal side effects. There were no obvious adverse effects in the newborn.

150 mg daily of this compound would be an average therapeutic dose. In the case of bupropion the therapeutic dose is usually 100-150 mg three times daily.Imipramine, like desipramine, quite clearly decreases the sensitivity to intravenous tyramine. Bupropion, by contrast, produced no significant change. These effects were clearly apparent using the parametric analysis of variance, but a similar trend appeared using non-parametric statistics even in this small group of subjects. In view of this it seems unlikely that the antidepressant effect of bupropion results from blockade of noradrenaline uptake.

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