phenothiazines such as chlorpromazine were the first type of
antipsychotic
title: Phenothiazine text: Phenothiazine Phenothiazine, abbreviated PTZ, is an organic compound that has the formula S(CH)NH and is related to the thiazine-class of heterocyclic compounds. Derivatives of phenothiazine are highly bioactive and have widespread use and rich history. The derivative chlorpromazine revolutionized the field of psychiatry and allergy treatment. An earlier derivative, methylene blue, was one of the first antimalarial drugs, and derivatives are under investigation as possible anti-infective drugs. Phenothiazine is a prototypical pharmaceutical lead structure in medicinal chemistry. Phenothiazine itself is only of theoretical interest, but its derivatives revolutionized psychiatry, other fields of medicine, and pest management. Other derivatives have been title: Phenothiazine text: a strong sedative effect. It went to market as a drug for allergies and for anesthesia. As of 2012 it was still on the market. At the end of the 1940s the same lab produced chlorpromazine which had an even stronger sedative and soothing effect, and Jean Delay and Pierre Deniker attempted to use it on their psychiatric patients, publishing their results in the early 1950s. The strong effects they found opened the door of the modern field of psychiatry and led to a proliferation of work on phenothiazine derivatives. The systematic research conducted by chemists to explore phenothiazine derivatives title: Chlorpromazine text: patients' symptoms resolving after many years of unrelenting psychosis. By 1954, chlorpromazine was being used in the United States to treat schizophrenia, mania, psychomotor excitement, and other psychotic disorders. Rhône-Poulenc licensed chlorpromazine to Smith Kline & French (today's GlaxoSmithKline) in 1953. In 1955 it was approved in the United States for the treatment of emesis (vomiting). The effect of this drug in emptying psychiatric hospitals has been compared to that of penicillin and infectious diseases. But the popularity of the drug fell from the late 1960s as newer drugs came on the scene. From chlorpromazine a number of other similar title: Chlorpromazine text: antipsychotics were developed. It also led to the discovery of antidepressants. Chlorpromazine largely replaced electroconvulsive therapy, hydrotherapy, psychosurgery, and insulin shock therapy. By 1964, about 50 million people worldwide had taken it. Chlorpromazine, in widespread use for 50 years, remains a "benchmark" drug in the treatment of schizophrenia, an effective drug although not a perfect one. The relative strengths or potencies of other antipsychotics are often ranked or measured against chlorpromazine in aliquots of 100 mg, termed "chlorpromazine equivalents" or CPZE. Brand names include Thorazine, Largactil, Hibernal, and Megaphen (sold by Bayer in West-Germany since July 1953). The veterinary use title: Chlorpromazine text: as FIASMA (functional inhibitor of acid sphingomyelinase). Chlorpromazine is an antagonist to H receptors (provoking antiallergic effects), H receptors (reduction of forming of gastric juice), M and M receptors (dry mouth, reduction in forming of gastric juice) and some 5-HT receptors (different anti-allergic/gastrointestinal actions). Because it acts on so many receptors, chlorpromazine is often referred to as a "dirty drug". In 1933, the French pharmaceutical company Laboratoires Rhône-Poulenc began to search for new anti-histamines. In 1947, it synthesized promethazine, a phenothiazine derivative, which was found to have more pronounced sedative and antihistaminic effects than earlier drugs. A year later, the