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Paroxetine and imipramine treatment of depressive patients in a controlled multicentre study with plasma amino acid measurements
Author(s) -
Nielsen O. A.,
Morsing I.,
Petersen J. S.,
Larsen T.,
Møller S. E.,
Manniche P. M.,
Skausig O. B.,
Bille N.,
FredslundAndersen F.,
Jensen E.,
Jensen T.,
Meidahl B.,
Ring G.,
Stender A.,
Stouby V.,
Treufeldt P.,
Vogt C. H.
Publication year - 1991
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.1600-0447.1991.tb03136.x
Subject(s) - paroxetine , imipramine , hamilton rating scale for depression , antidepressant , psychology , rating scale , medicine , reuptake inhibitor , major depressive disorder , correlation , developmental psychology , alternative medicine , pathology , amygdala , hippocampus , geometry , mathematics
In a 12‐week double‐blind study with 36 patients with major depressive episode (DSM‐III), paroxetine (Seroxat® Aropax® showed significantly quicker onset of efficacy on the Melancholia Scale, and better tolerance than imipramine. Plasma concentration analyses showed no clear concentration‐efficacy correlation in either treatment group. During long‐term treatment paroxetine seemed to be superior to imipramine in preventing relapse: both treatments were well tolerated. A significant correlation between baseline plasma tryptophan: large neutral amino acids ratio and final Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) score and a trend towards an inverse correlation between this ratio and percentage reduction in HRSD score were seen in the paroxetine group but not in the imipramine group. In line with previous studies, these results support the hypothesis that paroxetine is an effective and well tolerated antidepressant.