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Pre-treatment neurotransmitter metabolites and response to imipramine or amitriptyline treatment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

James W. Maas ,
James H. Kocsis ,
Charles L. Bowden ,
John M. Davis ,
D. Eugene Redmond ,
Israel Hanin  and
Eli Robins
James H. Kocsis
Affiliation:
Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic, New York, New York, USA.
Charles L. Bowden
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
John M. Davis
Affiliation:
Illinois State Psychiatric Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
D. Eugene Redmond
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Israel Hanin
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Eli Robins
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, USA.
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Synopsis

Preliminary data are presented from the NIMH Collaborative Study on the psychobiology of depression, biological studies, dealing with relationships between the pre-treatment levels of the neurotransmitter metabolites 3-methoxy-4-hydrophenethyleneglycol (MHPG), 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and homovanillic acid (HVA) and the subsequent therapeutic response of depressed patients to imipramine or amitriptyline. Eighty-seven depressed patients were studied during pre-treatment and treatment periods. It has been found that (1) both low pre-treatment urinary MHPG and low CSF 5-HIAA values are associated with a response to imipramine; these relationships were not artefacts due to sex or age; (2) there were no significant relationships between pre-treatment urinary MHPG, CSF MHPG, 5-HIAA, or HVA values and the subsequent response, or failure of response, to amitriptyline; (3) there was not a bimodal distribution for CSF 5-HIAA. For both males and females, there were positive and statistically significant correlations between CSF MHPG and urinary MHPG; for the females, there were positive and significant correlations between both urinary and CSF MHPG and CSF 5-HIAA. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , February 1982 , pp. 37 - 43
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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