Controlled comparison of two doses of milnacipran (F 2207) and amitriptyline in major depressive inpatients

✍ Scribed by Marc Ansseau; Remy Frenckell; Claudine Mertens; Jules Wilde; Louis Botte; Jean-Michel Devoitille; Jean-Luc Evrard; André Nayer; Philippe Darimont; Guy Dejaiffe; Jean Mirel; Emile Meurice; Marcel Parent; Jean-Pierre Couzinier; Jean-Paul Demarez; Christiane Serre

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 660 KB
• Volume: 98
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0033-3158
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00444686

✦ Synopsis

A multicenter study compared the antidepressant efficacy and the tolerance of two doses of milnacipran (50 mg and 100 rag/day) and amitriptyline (150 rag/day) in three parallel groups of 45 major depressive inpatients defined by Research Diagnostic Criteria. After a wash-out period of 4-7 days on placebo with lorazepam and/or nitrazepam if necessary, patients were randomly assigned to a daily dose of milnacipran 50 mg, milnacipran 100 mg or amitriptyline 150 mg reached on the 5th day and then stable over a 4-week period, with weekly assessments by means of the Montgomery and Asberg depression scale, the Hamilton depression scale, the Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) and the Target Emergent Signs and Symptoms. Results showed significant superiority of both milnacipran 100 rag/day and amitriptyline over milnacipran 50 mg/day at the end of the treatment period. However, amitriptyline induced a nonsignificant trend toward more rapid improvement after 2 weeks of treatment, mainly based on items related to insomnia, supporting more sedative properties of amitriptyline as compared to milnacipran. Anticholinergic side-effects were significantly lower with milnacipran than with amitriptyline, explaining why milnacipran 100 mg exhibited at the end of the treatment period, a nonsignificantly better efficacy index on the CGI. Moreover, in contrast to milnacipran, amitriptyline was responsible for a significant decrease in blood pressure and a significant weight gain.