Neuroendocrine effects of intravenous clomipramine in depressed patients and healthy subjects.

OBJECTIVE

Neuroendocrine challenge paradigms have been used to asses serotonergic systems in depression, but limitations in the specificity of many of these tests have been noted. In this study, the neuroendocrine responses to acute intravenous administration of the serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitor clomipramine were assessed in depressed patients and matched control subjects.

METHODS

Thirty hospitalized patients who met DSM-III-R criteria for major depression, and 30 healthy control subjects who were matched for age, sex, and season of year for the time of study, received 12.5 mg of intravenously administered clomipramine.

RESULTS

The depressed patients demonstrated significant blunting of prolactin responses to clomipramine, as well as trends toward blunted ACTH and cortisol responses. There was no difference between the patient and control groups in growth hormone responses, plasma clomipramine levels, or self-reports of side effects.

CONCLUSIONS

These data support the hypothesis that depressed patients have abnormal neuroendocrine responses to the intravenous administration of the 5-HT reuptake inhibitor clomipramine. Further study is required to delineate the mechanisms responsible for the abnormal response to intravenously administered clomipramine in depression.