ReviewPharmacology & therapeutics2012
Mirtazapine, and mirtazapine-like compounds as possible pharmacotherapy for substance abuse disorders: evidence from the bench and the bedside.
Review in Pharmacology & therapeutics, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01949571 (Phase II Clinical Studies on Anti-addictive Therapeutic Effects of Mirtazapine in Human Subjects Addicted to Cocaine.), which is not on this map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Phase II Clinical Studies on Anti-addictive Therapeutic Effects of Mirtazapine in Human Subjects Addicted to Cocaine.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mirtazapine for Methamphetamine Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Attenuation of cue-induced heroin-seeking by the atypical antidepressant mirtazapine.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Five-year trends in psychiatric inpatient care: insights from 5,887 patients on substance use, involuntary admissions, and treatment approaches.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Naltrexone/Bupropion/Mirtazapine Triple Therapy for Treatment-Resistant Methamphetamine Use Disorder: A Case Series.Cureus · 2026Article
- The use ofFrontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Pharmacologic profile of ITI-333: a novel molecule for treatment of substance use disorders.Psychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Review
- Investigating the potential of mirtazapine to induce drug-seeking behavior in free-choice drinking mouse model.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2022Article
- A serotonergic biobehavioral signature differentiates cocaine use disorder participants administered mirtazapine.Translational psychiatry · 2022Article
- Noradrenergic contributions to cue-driven risk-taking and impulsivity.Psychopharmacology · 2021Article
- The Antidepressant Mirtazapine Inhibits Hepatic Innate Immune Networks to Attenuate Immune-Mediated Liver Injury in Mice.Frontiers in immunology · 2019Article
- Mirtazapine and ketanserin alter preference for gambling-like schedules of reinforcement in rats.Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2017Article
- Pharmacologically distinct pramipexole-mediated akinesia vs. risk-taking in a rat model of Parkinson's disease.Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry · 2016Article
- A Review of the Literature of Mirtazapine in Co-Occurring Depression and an Alcohol Use Disorder.Journal of addictive behaviors, therapy & rehabilitation · 2016Article
- Mirtazapine-induced acute angle closure.Indian journal of ophthalmology · 2015Article
- Methylphenidate vs. resperidone in treatment of methamphetamine dependence: A clinical trial.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2014Article
- A new approach to assess gambling-like behavior in laboratory rats: using intracranial self-stimulation as a positive reinforcer.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2014Article
- Using conditioned place preference to identify relapse prevention medications.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2013Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Understanding substance use disorders (SUDs) and the problems associated with abstinence has grown in recent years. Nonetheless, highly efficacious treatment targeting relapse prevention has remained elusive, and there remains no FDA-approved pharmacotherapy for psychostimulant dependence. Preclinical and clinical investigations assessing the utility of classical antidepressants, which block monoamine reuptake, show mixed and often contradictory results. Mirtazapine (Remeron®) is a unique FDA-approved antidepressant, with negligible affinity for reuptake proteins, indirectly augments monoamine transmission presumably through antagonist activity at multiple receptors including the norepinephrine (NE)(α2), and serotonin (5-HT)(2A/C) receptors. Historically, mirtazapine was also considered to be a 5-HT(2C) antagonist, but recent evidence indicates that mirtazapine is an inverse agonist at this receptor subtype. Suggesting a promising role for mixed-action serotonergic drugs for addiction pharmacotherapy, mirtazapine attenuates psychostimulant-induced behaviors in several rodent models of substance abuse, and antagonizes methamphetamine-induced biochemical and electrophysiological alterations in rats. Preclinical findings are confirmed through published case studies documenting successful outcomes with mirtazapine therapy across a number of SUDs. To date, a large scale clinical trial assessing the utility of mirtazapine in substance abuse pharmacotherapy has yet to be conducted. However, as reviewed here, accumulating preclinical and clinical evidence argues that mirtazapine, or compounds that emulate aspects of its pharmacological profile, may prove useful in helping treat addictions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.