The Many Uses of Bupropion and Bupropion Sustained Release (SR) in Adults

Abstract

Sir: Bupropion is an antidepressant originally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1989 for the treatment of depression. 1 Its unique mechanism of action among antidepressants is thought to be due to reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine. 2 In 1997, the FDA approved bupropion sus-tained release (SR) for the treatment of smoking cessation. 3 Bu-propion has been used to treat a number of conditions, and the following discussion will review those off-label uses. It appears that bupropion may be an effective antidepressant across a wide spectrum of depressive conditions. Weihs et al. 4 found bupropion to be a safe and effective agent in the treatment of depression in the elderly. In addition to having a favorable side effect profile, bupropion has been shown to have positive results in treating anxiety associated with depression compared with sertraline and fluoxetine. 5–7 The most common side effects of bupropion described in a series of studies include headache, dry mouth, and nausea when compared with placebo. 8 Two im-portant clinical issues noted in the studies were that sexual dys-function was reported by less than 1% of patients and that a dose-associated weight loss was found in all 3 studies. 8 Bupro-pion has also been associated with weight loss in overweight and obese women in a recently published study. 9