Amisulpride versus Amineptine and Placebo for the Treatment of Dysthymia
- 1 January 1999
- journal article
- clinical trial
- Published by S. Karger AG in Neuropsychobiology
- Vol. 39 (1) , 25-32
- https://doi.org/10.1159/000026556
Abstract
Amisulpride, a selective antagonist for D2 and D3 dopamine receptors, acts preferentially on presynaptic receptors increasing dopaminergic transmission at low doses. In a multicentre, 3-month, placebo-controlled study, amisulpride (50 mg/day) was compared to amineptine (200 mg/day) in the treatment of primary dysthymia. A total of 323 patients were enrolled. Amisulpride and amineptine were found to be statistically superior to placebo (p < 0.0001) on the Clinical Global Impression (item 2): 63, 64 and 33% responders, respectively; improvement of Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale and Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms scores following amisulpride or amineptine treatment was twice as high as with placebo (p < 0.0001). The adverse event profile of amisulpride was similar to that of placebo except for endocrine symptoms in female patients; amineptine showed mainly events linked to psychic activation (insomnia, nervousness). Results show that amisulpride can improve symptoms of chronic depression in dysthymia.Keywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Pharmacotherapy for ‘pure’ dysthymia: setraline vs. imipramine and placeboEuropean Neuropsychopharmacology, 1994