Subgroup of conventional antipsychotic drugs that, chemically, have in common a phenothiazine configuration (i.e., phenyl rings and heterocyclic ring containing nitrogen and sulfur) but differ from one another through variations in side chains. Based on the side chain attached to the nitrogen atom in the middle ring, the phenothiazines are subdivided into three subgroups: aliphatic (e.g., chlorpromazine), piperazine (e.g., fluphenazine, trifluoperazine, perphenazine), and piperidine (e.g., mesoridazine, thioridazine).
The chemical name for a class of major tranquilizers.
Any of a large group of drugs, many of which are used as tranquilizers, antiemetics, antihistamines, and adjuncts to anesthesia.
A group of chemically related compounds with various pharmacological actions. Some (e.g. chlorpromazine and trifluoperazine) are major tranquilizers; others (e.g. piperazine) are anthelmintics.
A group of major antipsychotic drugs, colloquially called ‘tranquillisers’, widely used to treat psychoses. They can be divided into three main groups. Chlorpromazine, methotrimeprazine and promazine are examples of group 1, usually characterized by their sedative effects and moderate antimuscarine and extrapyramidal system side-effects. Group 2 includes pericyazine, pipothiazine and thioridazine, which have moderate sedative effects but significant side-effects. Fluphenazine, perphenazine, prochlorperazine and trifluoperazine comprise group 3. Their sedative effects are less than for the other groups and they have little antimuscarinic action but marked extrapyramidal side-effects (involuntary movements such as tremor).
A class of major tranquilizers used to treat psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia. They have neuroleptic and antiemetic effects. Among the most commonly used agents in this class are chlorpromazine, haloperidol, prochlorperazine, and thioridazine. Side effects of these drugs include dystonic reactions, tardive dyskinesia, seizures, and sedation.