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Comparative trial of L-tryptophan and amitriptyline in depressive illness1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

R. N. Herrington ,
A. Bruce ,
E. C. Johnstone  and
M. H. Lader
R. N. Herrington
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, Institute of Psychiatry, London
A. Bruce
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, Institute of Psychiatry, London
E. C. Johnstone
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, Institute of Psychiatry, London
M. H. Lader*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, Institute of Psychiatry, London
*
2Address for correspondence: Dr M. H. Lader, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF.
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Synopsis

Depressed patients who were suitable for drug treatment were allocated randomly to treatment for four weeks with either amitriptyline in doses reaching 150 mg daily or with l-tryptophan in a maximal dose of 8 G daily. Both in-patients and out-patients were included. The trial was double-blind and ratings were made at the start of treatment and weekly for the subsequent four weeks: the patients were then followed for a further six months. Both groups of patients improved steadily over the course of four weeks and there were no marked differences between the treatment groups though there was some tendency for the improvement of the tryptophan-treated patients to fade between the third and fourth weeks. Within the tryptophan group anxious patients improved least. It is concluded that L-tryptophan probably has some antidepressive action in patients with depressive illness of moderate severity.

Type
Preliminary Communication
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 6 , Issue 4 , February 1977 , pp. 673 - 678
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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Footnotes

1

This trial was carried out under the auspices of the Committee on Clinical Trials in Psychiatry (now known as the Drug Trials Sub-committee) of the Medical Research Council.

References

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