title: Paroxetine  for the treatment of depression: a critical update.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A growth in the market for antidepressants, paired with an ever-increasing population affected from depressive disorder, requires a critical re-evaluation of most prescribed antidepressants, in order to provide up-to-date practical prescribing information for clinicians. Paroxetine represents a widely prescribed and reliable antidepressant for the expert clinician, but the latest data do not rank it amongst the most effective and tolerable newer antidepressants.
  
  
  METHODS
  This paper reviews latest data on paroxetine and investigates its clinical efficacy and safety in different groups of patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In previous subanalysis and metaregression analysis, paroxetine failed to show clear differences in terms of efficacy across clinical subgroups. Thus, nowadays the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of the molecule are fundamental to guiding its prescription, both for efficacy and tolerability issues, for example, it can have a high impact on sexual function and weight should also be considered at the beginning of treatment. Since prescription is still based mainly on its side-effect profile, newer and more accurate directions for an individualized prescription are needed.
authors.affiliation: University of Bologna, Institute of Psychiatry , Viale Carlo Pepoli 5, 40123 Bologna , Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gibiino
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serretti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D017374:Paroxetine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018579:Patient Selection; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D017374:Paroxetine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors