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Treatment of endogenous depression with oral thyrotropin‐releasing hormone and amitriptyline
Author(s) -
Karlberg B. E.,
Kjellman B. F.,
Karedal B.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1978.tb03571.x
Subject(s) - amitriptyline , medicine , thyrotropin releasing hormone , endogenous depression , endocrinology , depression (economics) , hormone , trh stimulation test , endogeny , hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid axis , thyroid , thyroid function , thyroid hormones , economics , macroeconomics
The effect of thyrotropin‐releasing hormone (TRH) on the symptoms in six subjects with endogenous depression was studied in relation to the function of the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐thyroid axis and was compared with the effects of amitriptyline in another six subjects with endogenous depression. TRH (80 mg daily) and amitriptyline (100 mg daily) were given orally for 3 weeks in a doubleblind, randomized fashion. As expected there was an increase of free thyroxine index in the patients given TRH after 1 day, after 1 week and after 3 weeks of treatment. In accordance with the increase in free thyroxine index, the thyrotropin increase (Δ TSH) studied in the TRH test was diminished after 3 weeks of treatment with TRH, indicating an increased metabolic effect of the thyroid hormones. Concomitant with the hormonal changes the symptoms of four patients in the TRH treatment group, as measured by the Cronholm‐Ottosson rating scale and global rating, showed improvements but not to the same degree as in the group of patients given amitriptyline. The difference was not statistically significant but the material is too small to allow definite conclusions in this respect. However, there was a significant negative correlation between free thyroxine index before treatment and therapeutic effect of TRH, which indicates that there may be a subgroup of patients with endogenous depression with lower thyroid function who could benefit from TRH administration.