Serotonin reuptake-inhibitor in the treatment of dementia

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Abstract
Olafsson K, Bille A, Palby A, Møller S E, Andersen J. Serotonin reuptake-inhibitor in the treatment of dementia. Ten patients with senile dementia and without previous depressive disorders entered an open study in which they were treated with fluvoxamine for three weeks. All ten patients tolerated the treatment, but two were excluded as a result of somatic illness, which made assessment of the treatment effects impossible. Improvement, measured by means of rating scale (Gottfries-Bråne-Steen scale) and psychological tests (Wisconsin card test and Wesch-ler Adult Intelligence Scale), was found in four patients. In two of the responders an abnormal pretreatment Dexametason suppressions test (DST) was found, whereas all the non-re-sponders had normal DST. A trend to lower pretreatment ratio in plasma of tyrosine (Tyr) to other large neutral amino acids (LNAA) was found in the responders (0.05<p<0.1). A significantly reduced prolactin response to thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) at 60 min was found in the responders (p<0.05). These findings, albeit preliminary, indicate that even if the patients could not be distinguished clinically, differences were found with respect to treatment response and biochemical parameters.