Biological markers in depression. Monoamine metabolites in urine of depressed patients and normal subjects.

Urinary elimination of HVA, MHPG and 5-HIAA was studied in 22 depressed inpatients before and after 28 days of antidepressant treatment. Mean values did not change significantly during treatment, and were not related significantly to recovery in patients. Some marked changes in urinary metabolite levels were, however, observed in individual patients, and could be related to changes in their depression. The direction of change in urinary monoamine metabolites during treatment was associated with pretreatment levels, in that high pretreatment values tended to decrease whereas low pretreatment levels tended to increase.