Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:52-56
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
Atenolol in seasonal affective disorder: a test of the melatonin hypothesis
NE Rosenthal, FM Jacobsen, DA Sack, J Arendt, SP James, BL Parry and TA Wehr
Clinical Psychobiology Branch, NIMH, Bethesda, MD 20892.
To test the hypothesis that the antidepressant effects of bright light in
seasonal affective disorder are mediated by the suppression of melatonin,
19 patients with this disorder were given atenolol, which suppresses
melatonin secretion, and placebo in a double-blind crossover study. No
difference in antidepressant efficacy was found between drug and placebo in
the sample as a whole, which argues against the melatonin hypothesis of
phototherapy. However, in three of the patients atenolol provided repeated,
marked, and sustained relief of symptoms, suggesting that it may be useful
in treating the winter depressive symptoms of some patients with seasonal
affective disorder.
