Beta 2-adrenoceptor antagonism in anxiety

Abstract

The relative role of beta 1- and beta 2-adrenoceptor antagonism in the management of anxiety symptoms is not clear. We studied the effect of ICI 118,551, a selective beta 2-antagonist, in 51 patients presenting with acute anxiety symptoms and fulfilling DSM-III criteria for anxiety disorder. All patients received placebo during the first week of treatment followed by thrice daily diazepam (2 mg) or ICI 118,551 (50 mg) or placebo for 4 weeks with double-blind, random allocation. Hamilton anxiety scale scores improved on all treatments but there was no significant difference between treatments. Beta 2-adrenoceptor antagonism does not appear to be effective in acute anxiety neurosis. Some earlier literature suggests that beta 1-antagonism may be more important.