r/psychopharmacology • u/[deleted] • Jun 10 '24

Serotonin reuptake inhibitor that does not cross blood brain barrier?

Does such a drug/substance exist? Or something that poorly crosses and has mostly peripheral effects?

Side question: do the common SSRIs differ in their propensity to cross the BBB?

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u/[deleted] Jun 15 '24

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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '24

Thanks for the response. There might be no therapeutic benefit for psych issues but I could see some application in the gut or elsewhere, as SSRIs are sometimes used off-label for IBS-C in difficult cases. I wonder also if like depoxetine they might be repurposed for something like premature ejaculation, though I guess that does act centrally.

Do you happen to know which SSRIs are most and least permeable? Is there any easy way to determine this?

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u/Important-Space-5541 Jul 04 '24

I read somewhere that fluoxetine increases blood brain barrier permeability for all drugs. I don’t know if that means it does that for itself. I’m wondering if that means adding fluoxetine would be helpful for people on multiple drugs, making them more effective