Title: A Comparison Study of Amitriptyline and Nortriptyline With Plasma Levels
Abstract: • Forty-one depressed outpatients were treated for six weeks after random assignment to amitriptyline hydrochloride (N = 22) or nortriptyline hydrochloride (N = 19). On a mean daily dose of 119 mg, amitriptyline-treated patients had a mean tricyclic level (amitriptyline plus nortriptyline) of 120 ng/ml. Nortriptylinetreated patients on a mean dose of 117 mg/day had a mean nortriptyline level of 141 ng/ml. The two drugs were equally effective in the treatment of depression. The correlation between the Hamilton Score and the mean tricyclic level was negative in the amitriptyline-treated patients (r= —0.54,<i>P</i><.025) and positive in the nortriptyline-treated patients (<i>r</i>= 0.49,<i>P</i><.05). Patients treated with amitriptyline or nortriptyline with plasma levels within the therapeutic range, defined in other laboratories, had a better response, as measured by the Hamilton Score (<i>P</i><.001), Zung Score (<i>P</i><.01), and percent recovered (<i>P</i><.001), than those above or below the therapeutic range.
Publication Year: 1977
Publication Date: 1977-05-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
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Cited By Count: 96
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