Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-v5vhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-29T05:11:50.016Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The clinical relevance of treatment with antidepressants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

W.A. Nolen
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Oince the discovery in the late 1950's of imipramine (Tofranil®), the first tricyclic antidepressant (TCA), and iproniazid, the first monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), many other TCAs and MAOIs, now being considered the classical antidepressants, have become available. Their effectiveness has been shown in numerous studies, although according to nowadays standards well designed studies (placebo-controlled, defined diagnostic groups, the use of standardized rating scales) with these compounds are relatively scarce.

From the early 1980's the so called modern antidepressants have been introduced: the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the reversible selective monoamine oxidase-A inhibitors (RIMAs) and a variety of other compounds. All these drugs have been registered after their effectiveness had been shown in well designed, placebo-controlled studies. In defining the efficacy of antidepressants, registration authorities consider two aspects important: statistical evidence and clinical relevance.

Keywords

antidepressantsclinical relevancedepressionatypical depressionfefractory depressionmaintenance therapyantidepressivaklinische relevanliedepressieatypische depressieresistente depressieonderhoudsbe-handeling
Type
Research Article
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , June 1995 , pp. 52 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © Scandinavian College of Neuropsychopharmacology 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Literature

1.Davis, JM, Wang, Zhengyu, Janicak, PG. A quantitative analysis of clinical trials for the treatment of affective disorders. Psychopharmacol Bull 1993; 29: 175–81.Google ScholarPubMed
2.Montgomery, SA. Clinically relevant effect sizes in depression. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 1994; 4 (suppl): 283–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Elkin, I, Shea, T, Watkins, JT, et al.NIMH Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program, I: general effectiveness of treatments. Arch gen Psychiat 1989; 46: 971–82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Hollon, SD, DeRubeis, RJ, Evans, MD, et al.Cognitive therapy and pharmacotherapy for depression, singly and in combination. Arch gen Psychiat 1992; 49: 774–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Klerman, GL, Cole, JO. Clinical pharmacology of imipramine and related antidepressant compounds. Pharmacol Rev 1965; 17: 101–41Google ScholarPubMed
6.Davis, JM, Fredman, DJ, Linden, RD. A review of the new antidepressant medications. In: Davis, JM, Maas, JW, eds. The affective Disorders. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Press, 1983: 129.Google Scholar
7.Song, F, Freemantle, N, Sheldon, TA, et al.Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: meta-analysis of efficacy and acceptability. Br med J 1993; 306: 683–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Danish University Antidepressant Group. Citalopram: clinical effect profile in comparison with clomipramine. A controlled multicenter study. Psychopharmacology 1986, 90: 131–8.Google Scholar
9.Danish University Antidepressant Group. Paroxetine: a selective reuptake inhibitor showing better tolerance, but weaker antidepressant effect than clomipramine in a controlled multicenter study. J affect Disord 1990; 18: 289–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Danish University Antidepressant Group. Moclobemide: a reversible MAO-A-inhibitor showing weaker antidepressant effect than clomipramine in a controlled multicenter study. J affect Disord 1993; 28: 105–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Reimherr, FW, Wood, DR, Byerley, B, Brainhard, J, Grosser, BI. Characteristics of responders to fluoxetine. Psychopharmacol Bull 1984; 20: 70–2.Google ScholarPubMed
12.Clerc, GE, Ruimy, P, Verdeau-Paillès, . A double-blind comparison of venlafaxine and fluoxetine in patients hospitalized for major depression and melancholia. Int clin Psychopharmacol 1994; 9: 139–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Liebowitz, MR, Quitkin, FM, Stewart, JW, et al.Antidepressant specificity in atypical depression. Arch gen Psychiat 1988; 45: 129–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Quitkin, FM, Harrison, W, Stewart, JW, et al.Response to phenelzine and imipramine in placebo nonresponders with atypical depression. Arch gen Psychiat 1991; 48: 319–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Scott, J. Predictors of non-response to antidepressants. In: Nolen, WA, Zohar, J, Roose, SR, Amsterdam, JD, eds. Refractory Depression, current Strategies and future Directions. Chicester: John Wiley & Sons, 1994: 19–28.Google Scholar
16.Hoencamp, E, Verjaal, MS, Nolen, WA, Haffmans, PMJ. Het effect van lithium-additie bij cyclische antidepressi va. Tijdschr Psychiat 1991; 33: 514–29.Google Scholar
17.Joffe, RT, Singer, W, Levitt, AJ, MacDonald, C. A placebo-controlled comparison of lithium and triiodothyronine augmentation of tricyclic antidepressants in unipolar refractory depression. Arch gen Psychiat 1993; 50: 387–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.De Montigny, C (1994) Lithium addition in refractory depression. In: Nolen, WA, Zohar, J, Roose, SR, Amsterdam, JD, eds. Refractory Depression, current Strategies and future Directions. Chicester: John Wiley & Sons, 1994: 47–57.Google Scholar
19.Nolen, WA, Van de Putte, JJ, Dijken, WA, et al.Treatment strategy in depression; II: MAO inhibitors in depression resistant to cyclic antidepressants: two controlled studies with tranylcypromine versus 1-5-hydroxytryptophan and nomifensine. Acta psychiat scand 1988; 78: 676–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20.Nolen, WA, Hoencamp, E, Haffmans, PMJ, Bouvy, P. Classical and selective monoamine oxidase inhibitors in refractory major depression. In: Nolen, WA, Zohar, J, Roose, SR, Amsterdam, JD, eds. Refractory Depression, current Strategies and future Directions. Chicester: John Wiley & Sons, 1994: 59–68.Google Scholar
21.McGrath, PJ, Stewart, JW, Harrison, W, Quitkin, FM. Treatment of tricyclic refractory depression with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor antidepressant. Psychopharmacol Bull 1987; 23: 169–72.Google ScholarPubMed
22.Medical Research Council. Report by Clinical Psychiatry Committee: clinical trial of the treatment of depressive illness. Br Med J 1965; ii: 881–6.Google Scholar
23.Nobler, MS, Sackeim, HA. Refractory depression and electroconvulsive therapy. In: Nolen, WA, Zohar, J, Roose, SR, Amsterdam, JD, eds. Refractory Depression, current Strategies and future Directions. Chicester: John Wiley & Sons, 1994: 69–81.Google Scholar
24.Frank, E, Kupfer, DJ, Perel, JM, et al.Three-year outcomes for maintenance therapies in recurrent depression. Arch gen Psychiat 1990; 47: 1093–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25.Kupfer, DJ, Frank, E, Perel, JM, et al.Five-year outcome for maintenance therapies in recurrent depression. Arch gen Psychiat 1992; 49: 769–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26.Evans, MD, Hollon, SD, DeRubeis, RJ, et al.Differential relapse following cognitive therapy and pharmacotherapy for depression. Arch gen Psychiat 1992; 49: 802–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed