Thirty-five depressed patients diagnosed by DSM-III criteria
participated in a double-blind study of the acute antidepressant effects of
the anticonvulsant carbamazepine, at average doses of 971 mg/day, achieving
mean +/- SD blood levels of 9.3 +/- 1.9 micrograms/ml (range, 3-12.5
micrograms/ml). Twenty patients (57%) showed at least mild improvement, and
12 showed more substantial improvement. Possible clinical predictors of
antidepressant response to carbamazepine are discussed. These preliminary
data suggest that carbamazepine has some acute antidepressant efficacy in
addition to the growing evidence that it has acute antimanic and
longer-term prophylactic efficacy in both phases of manic-depressive
illness.Abstract Teaser