Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica
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Acta Psychiatr Scand · Sep 1991
Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialParoxetine and imipramine treatment of depressive patients in a controlled multicentre study with plasma amino acid measurements.
In a 12-week double-blind study with 36 patients with major depressive episode (DSM-III), paroxetine (Seroxat, Aropax) showed significantly quicker onset of efficacy on the Melancholia Scale, and better tolerance than imipramine. Plasma concentration analyses showed no clear concentration-efficacy correlation in either treatment group. ⋯ A significant correlation between baseline plasma tryptophan: large neutral amino acids ratio and final Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) score and a trend towards an inverse correlation between this ratio and percentage reduction in HRSD score were seen in the paroxetine group but not in the imipramine group. In line with previous studies, these results support the hypothesis that paroxetine is an effective and well tolerated antidepressant.
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Data on the suicide rate from 1922 to 1935 and from 1965 to 1988 are obtained from annual journals and original documents compiled by the Estonian State Committee for Statistics. During the period of Estonian independence (1922-1935 under consideration), the suicide rate was 16.7 per 100,000 inhabitants at the beginning of the period. ⋯ A decline in the male suicide rate from 55.2 to 36.8 has occurred since 1986. The effects of sociopolitical changes and of limitations on the sale of alcohol on suicide rates are discussed.
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We measured platelet 3H-imipramine binding parameters in 16 subjects affected by different types of mental deficiency, all characterized by hyperactive and/or aggressive behaviour, and in 16 healthy controls. The patients had a lower maximum binding capacity than the controls, with no difference in Kd, irrespectively of the type of mental disorder. These findings suggest a link between 5-HT disturbances, reflected by reduced imipramine binding sites, and behavioural dyscontrol, expressed as hyperactivity and aggression.