Am J Psychiatry 1978; 135:1179-1184
Copyright © 1978 by American Psychiatric Association
Prediction of imipramine antidepressant response by a one-day dextro- amphetamine trial
DP van Kammen and DL Murphy
This study provides additional evidence that there is a moderate
association between the acute activation, euphoria, and antidepressant
responses to dextro-amphetamine and the antidepressant response to
imipramine during a four-week trial. Comparison of the responses of 13
patients to dextro-amphetamine on two different days during a double blind
trial indicated that differences in dextro-amphetamine response are
consistent, replicable characteristics of individual depressed patients.
The variables of sex, diagnosis, diurnal mood variation, platelet MAO
activity, and MMPI scale scores were of minimal assistance in revealing
factors that might be associated with activation or antidepressant
responses to dextro-amphetamine in this small patient group. The authors
suggest the need for larger-scale studies in this area.
