The effects of antidepressant drugs on salivary flow and content of sodium and potassium ions in human parotid saliva

Abstract

Stimulated parotid saliva was collected, using the Carlson-Crittenden cup, from normal controls and patients on antidepressant drugs. The saliva from patients using amitriptyline, dothiepin (tricyclics), fluoxetine and paroxetine (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors; SSRI) was analysed for flow rate, [Na +] and [K +], and was compared with that from unmediaated, non-depressed volunteers for all variables. The tricyclic antidepressants produced a significant reduction in flow (amitriptyline, p < 0.01; dothiepin, p < 0.05), and consequent decrease in [Na +] and increase in [K +]. These effects were presumably due to muscarinic receptor blockade. The SSRIs produced no significant change in these variables. A prospective study of dothiepin in non-depressed patients confirmed that it decreases stimulated parotid flow. This finding also suggested that depression itself contributed little to the oral dryness observed in and reported by the depressed patients. The patients' subjective rating of oral dryness related well to a reduction in stimulated flow. This applied to those taking either tricyclics or SSRI, both showing a reduced flow rate relative to control ( p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively). This amounted to a 58% reduction in flow rate in the tricyclic group. The data suggest that measurement of stimulated parotid salivary flow is a reliable indicator of drug-induced oral dryness.