Kwok_1981_Naunyn.Schmiedebergs.Arch.Pharmacol_316_161

The antimuscarinic activity of mianserin and amitriptyline was investigated in the cat superior cervical ganglion using McN-A-343 as a muscarinic agonist. Mianserin was found to have a similar order of potency to amitriptyline in this preparation, in contrast to the marked difference in their antimuscarinic activities on non-neuronal muscarinic receptors. These findings suggest that the action of mianserin on neuronal muscarinic receptors is more important than that predicted from studies on non-neuronal receptors and may be related to its anti-depressant activity.