Tranylcypromine: patterns and predictors of response
White, K.; White, J.
Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 47(7): 380-382
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 0160-6689 PMID: 3522559 Document Number: 274143
Data on 58 patients with major depressive episodes treated with tranylcypromine in the course of two controlled, 4-week trials were examined for clinical predictors of favourable response and patterns of symptom improvement and side effects. Predictors of positive outcome with tranylcypromine were associated with greater initial severity on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) ratings of depressed mood, psychomotor retardation, and weight loss, and with lower initial severity of ratings of middle and late insomnia. Distinct quality of depressed mood predicted poorer response; endogenicity, as defined by Research Diagnostic Criteria or the Nies-Robinson Diagnostic Index, failed to predict outcome. Analysis of improvement on indivudual symptoms items of the HAM-D and Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale indicated a generalized patholysis except in a few areas such as appetite/weight loss and insomnia, which may reflect specific side effects of tranylcypromine.