Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-fwgfc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-13T00:47:58.906Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Phenelzine (“Nardil”) in the Treatment of Endogenous Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2018

John T. Hutchinson  and
Daphne Smedberg
John T. Hutchinson
Affiliation:
Cane Hill Hospital, Coulsdon, Surrey
Daphne Smedberg
Affiliation:
Cane Hill Hospital, Coulsdon, Surrey
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

“Let him take a course of chymistry, or a course of rope dancing or a course of anything he is inclined at the time.”

(Boswell's Life of Johnson) (1)

To many minds there can be but little change in the treatment of depression since Johnson prescribed these remedies in 1776. Indeed the place of chemistry is now prominent, although its application is apparently more important to the patient than its study. It is believed that an enzyme, mono-amine oxidase, found in cerebral tissues, plays a part in the genesis of depression. Amphetamine inhibits the destruction of adrenaline by amine oxidase (McIlwain, 6) and amphetamine is of value in the treatment of mild depression (Guttmann and Sargant, 5). Another substance is 5-hydroxytryptamine, or serotonin, which is said to excite cerebral neurones briefly between its liberation and destruction; it is a cerebral vasoconstrictor and is destroyed rapidly by amine oxidase (McIlwain, 6). Iproniazid (Marsilid) is a drug which inhibits amine oxidase and has been used in the treatment of depression (West and Dally, 10). Its central actions are considered to be similar to those of 5-hydroxytryptamine. Recently, Chessin (3) has described yet another amine oxidase inhibitor, phenelzine, which is the study of this paper.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Journal of Mental Science , Volume 106 , Issue 443 , April 1960 , pp. 704 - 710
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1960 

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

1. Boswell, , James, , Life of Samuel Johnson.Google Scholar
2. Boyd, W. D., and Forest, A. D., Brit. Med. J., 1959, i, 1043.Google Scholar
3. Chessin, M., Dubnick, B., Leeson, G., and Scott, C. C., 1959. In press.Google Scholar
4. Delay, J., et al., Ann. Méd.-Psychol., 1959, 1, 521–535.Google Scholar
5. Guttmann, E., and Sargant, W., Brit. Med. J., 1937, i, 1013.Google Scholar
6. McIlwain, H., Biochemistry and the Central Nervous System, 1959. London.Google Scholar
7. Maclay, W., Proc. Roy. Soc. Med., 1953, 46, 13.Google Scholar
8. Sargant, W., and Slater, E., An Introduction to Physical Methods of Treatment in Psychiatry, 1956. Edinburgh and London.Google Scholar
9. Smarr, E. R., et al., Amer. J. Psychiat., 1958, 114, 1115.Google Scholar
10. West, E. D., and Dally, P. J., Brit. Med. J., 1959, i, 1491.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.