Am J Psychiatry 1984; 141:1159-1171
Copyright © 1984 by American Psychiatric Association
Pretreatment neurotransmitter metabolite levels and response to tricyclic antidepressant drugs
JW Maas, SH Koslow, MM Katz, CL Bowden, RL Gibbons, PE Stokes, E Robins and JM Davis
Relationships between pretreatment neurotransmitter metabolite levels and
response to imipramine and amitriptyline were studied in 104 depressed
patients. Normal values for urinary norepinephrine and low values for
urinary MHPG were associated with greater incidence of drug response in
bipolar, but not unipolar, patients. For unipolar, but not bipolar,
patients low CSF 5-HIAA and high urinary metanephrine values were
associated with a greater incidence of drug response. These data indicate
that the pretreatment functional state of catecholamine and serotonin
systems is associated with type of response to drug treatment. The authors
present hypotheses about the association of alterations in serotonin and
norepinephrine systems and definable subtypes of depression.
