Clopenthixol Explained

Clopenthixol (Sordinol), also known as clopentixol, is a typical antipsychotic drug of the thioxanthene class. It was introduced by Lundbeck in 1961.^[1]

Clopenthixol is a mixture of cis and trans isomers. Zuclopenthixol, the pure cis isomer, was later introduced by Lundbeck in 1962,^[2] and has been much more widely used. Both drugs are equally effective as antipsychotics and have similar adverse effect profiles, but clopenthixol is half as active on a milligram-to-milligram basis and appears to produce more sedation in comparison.^[3]

Clopenthixol is not approved for use in the United States.

See also

• Typical antipsychotic
• Thioxanthene

Notes and References

1. Book: Sneader W . Drug discovery: a history . Wiley . New York . 2005 . 410 . 0-471-89980-1 .
2. Book: Vela JM, Buschmann H, Holenz J, Párraga A, Torrens A . Antidepressants, Antipsychotics, Anxiolytics: From Chemistry and Pharmacology to Clinical Application . Wiley-VCH . Weinheim . 2007 . 516 . 978-3-527-31058-6 .
3. Gravem A, Engstrand E, Guleng RJ . Cis(Z)-clopenthixol and clopenthixol (Sordinol) in chronic psychotic patients. A double-blind clinical investigation . Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica . 58 . 5 . 384–388 . November 1978 . 362830 . 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1978.tb03570.x . 44833311 .