Am J Psychiatry 1992; 149:1168-1175
Copyright © 1992 by American Psychiatric Association
Neuroendocrine effects of intravenous clomipramine in depressed patients and healthy subjects
RN Golden, D Ekstrom, TM Brown, R Ruegg, DL Evans, JJ Haggerty Jr, JC Garbutt, CA Pedersen, GA Mason and J Browne
Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill 27599-7160.
OBJECTIVE: Neuroendocrine challenge paradigms have been used to asses
serotonergic systems in depression, but limitations in the specificity of
many of these tests have been noted. In this study, the neuroendocrine
responses to acute intravenous administration of the serotonin (5-HT)
reuptake inhibitor clomipramine were assessed in depressed patients and
matched control subjects. METHODS: Thirty hospitalized patients who met
DSM-III-R criteria for major depression, and 30 healthy control subjects
who were matched for age, sex, and season of year for the time of study,
received 12.5 mg of intravenously administered clomipramine. RESULTS: The
depressed patients demonstrated significant blunting of prolactin responses
to clomipramine, as well as trends toward blunted ACTH and cortisol
responses. There was no difference between the patient and control groups
in growth hormone responses, plasma clomipramine levels, or self-reports of
side effects. CONCLUSIONS: These data support the hypothesis that depressed
patients have abnormal neuroendocrine responses to the intravenous
administration of the 5-HT reuptake inhibitor clomipramine. Further study
is required to delineate the mechanisms responsible for the abnormal
response to intravenously administered clomipramine in depression.
