Research reportDopaminergic mechanism of antidepressant action in depressed patients
Section snippets
Participants
Participants were 8 depressed patients [4 male, 4 female; mean (±SEM) age=43.5 (±4.1)], and 10 non-depressed controls [5 male, 5 female; mean (±SEM) age=42.3 (±2.6)]. They provided written informed consent.
Antidepressant treatment
During the course of antidepressant treatment, mean (±SEM) HDRS ratings in the patient group fell from 27.1 (±1.4) prior to treatment to 8.6 (±0.5: range, 6–10) at the time of testing.
FCPCS scores increased significantly over the course of antidepressant treatment [mean±SEM: before treatment, 2.35±0.14; after treatment, 3.36±0.14; t(7)=6.23, p<0.001]. Post-treatment scores in the treated group were marginally lower than control scores [3.60±0.12].
Effects of sulpiride on overall mood scores
The statistical analysis of the VAS scores is
Discussion
Consistent with an earlier study (Mehta et al., 1999), the administration of a low dose of sulpiride caused no worsening of mood in non-depressed, non-antidepressant-treated volunteers. Indeed, in the control group, sulpiride caused a slight enhancement of psychological well-being. This observation may be relevant to the efficacy of low-dose sulpiride as an antidepressant (Del Zompo et al., 1990, Ruther et al., 1999), and most likely reflects the inhibitory action of sulpiride at presynaptic
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