Moeller 1986.
Methods | Four‐week, double‐blind study. |
Participants | Female in‐patients with a Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) according to the DSM‐III criteria, and with a pretreatment score of at least 18 on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale‐17 Item (HDRS‐17). Age range: 18‐65 years. Exclusion criteria: patients who did not give their informed consent, pregnant patients, patients with serious concomitant disease (heart, liver, kidney), patients with an organic cerebral syndrome, schizophrenics or patients with a paranoid psychosis, alcoholics or patients addicted to narcotics, patients with epilepsy, and patients having received MAO‐inhibitors within the last 3 weeks. |
Interventions | Citalopram: 14 participants. Maprotiline: 13 participants. Citalopram dose range: 40‐60 mg/day. Maprotiline dose range: 75‐150 mg/day. |
Outcomes | Primary outcome: plasma ratios of tryptophan (Trp) and Tyriosine (Tyr) to other large neutral amino acids. |
Notes | This study was funded by Lundbeck (citalopram manufacturer). One patient in maprotiline group committed suicide. |