The beta-receptor: isoproterenol anxiety states.

To learn the effect of isoproterenol on patients meeting Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for panic disorder, we administered isoproterenol, racemic sodium lactate, and glucose to them and to nonpsychiatric control subjects. Each subject received all 3 infusions, double-blind in random order. A 21-item self-rating panic scale was constructed from the RDC for panic disorder and was used to identify RDC panic attacks. The results of this study and the preliminary results from the infusions after treatment with imipramine are discussed in the text, and the results from the first patient to be reinfused after treatment are presented graphically.