Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-08T14:48:51.177Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Are bipolar I depressive patients less responsive to treatment with antidepressants than unipolar depressive patients? Results from a case control study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

R. Bottlender ,
D. Rudolf ,
M. Jäger ,
A. Strauss  and
H.-J. Möller
R. Bottlender*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Nussbaumstr. 7, 80336Munich, Germany
D. Rudolf
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Nussbaumstr. 7, 80336Munich, Germany
M. Jäger
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Nussbaumstr. 7, 80336Munich, Germany
A. Strauss
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Nussbaumstr. 7, 80336Munich, Germany
H.-J. Möller
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Nussbaumstr. 7, 80336Munich, Germany
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address: bottlend@psy.med.uni-muenchen.de (R. Bottlender).
Get access

Summary

The increasing evidence that bipolar and unipolar affective disorders have different biological etiologies and courses of illness has been associated with an intensifying interest in specific treatment regimens for both disorders during the last decade. In this context, the question arose whether antidepressants exert similar efficacy in the acute treatment of bipolar compared to unipolar depression. Although the clinical impression does not indicate substantial differences in the efficacy of antidepressants between these groups of patients, empirical databases concerning this topic are rare. The present study compared the efficacy of antidepressants in 50 unipolar and 50 bipolar depressed inpatients (ICD-9 criteria) under naturalistic treatment conditions. Both groups of patients were mahed for age, gender and duration of illness. Clinical assessments of status at the time of admission and at discharge were used to rate response to antidepressant treatment. Analyses of the data revealed that both groups of patients needed the same time for treatment response and did not show any significant differences in ouome measures at discharge. These findings do not concur with the hypothesis formulated by some experts in the field of affective disorders that antidepressants are less effective in the acute treatment of bipolar depressed patients compared to unipolar depressed patients.

Keywords

Affective disorderAntidepressantsBipolar depressionUnipolar depressionTreatment
Type
Original Articles
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , July 2002 , pp. 200 - 205
Copyright
Copyright © Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baumhackl, UBiziere, KFischbach, RGeretsegger, CHebenstreit, GRadmayr, Eet al.Efficacy and tolerability of moclobe-mide compared with imipramine in depressive disorder (DSM III): an Austrian double blind, multicentre study. Br J Psychiatry 1989;6(Suppl):78–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bobon, DForeign adaptations of the AMDP-System. In: Bobon, DBaumann, UAngst, JHelmchen, HHippius, H editors. AMDP-System in Pharmacopsychiatry. Basel: Karger; 1983. p. 19–34.Google Scholar
Bottlender, RRudolf, DStrauss, AMoller, HJAntidepressant-associated maniform states in acute treatment of patients with bipolar-I depression. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 1999; 248(6):296–300.Google Scholar
Cohn, JBCollins, GAshbrook, EWernicke, JFA comparison of fluoxetine imipramine and placebo in patients with bipolar depressive disorder. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 1989;4:313–22.Google ScholarPubMed
Compton, MTNemeroff, CBThe treatment of bipolar depression. J Clin Psychiatry 2000;61(Suppl 9):57–67.Google ScholarPubMed
Johnstone, ECOwens, DGFrith, CDMcPherson, KDowie, CRiley, Get al.Neurotic illness and its response to anxiolytic and antidepressant treatment. Psychol Med 1980;10(2):321–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Katz, MMKoslow, SHMaas, JWFrazer, ABowden, CLCasper, Ret al.The timing, specificity and clinical prediction of tricyclic drug effects in depression. Psychol Med 1987;17: 297–309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Möller, HJBottlender, RGrunze, HStrauß, AWittmann, JAre antidepressants less effective in the acute treatment of bipolar I compared to unipolar depression. J Affect Disord 2001; 67(1-3):141–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Möller, HJReview: treatment of schizophrenia. State of the art. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 1996;246(5):229–34.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pietzcker, AGebhardt, RStrauss, AStockel, MLanger, CFreudenthal, KThe syndrome scales in the AMDP-system. Mod Probl Pharmacopsychiatry 1983;20:88–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plasky, PAntidepressant usage in schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 1991;17(4):649–57.Google Scholar
Siris, SGvan Kammen, DPDocherty, JPUse of antidepressant drugs in schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1978;35(11): 1368–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soares, JCMann, JJThe anatomy of mood disorders-review of structural neuroimaging studies. Biol Psychiatry 1997;41: 86–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Souery, DPapadimitriou, GNMendlewicz, JNew genetic approaches in affective disorder. In: Papamitriou, GMendlewicz, J editors. Genetics of Mental Disorders Part II: Clinical Issues, Bailliere's Clinical Psychiatry, International Practice and Research, Bailliere Tindall, London 1996;2(1).Google Scholar
Wehr, TACan antidepressants induce rapid cycling. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1993;50(6):495–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zornberg, GLPope, HG JrTreatment of depression in bipolar disorder: new directions for research. J Clin Psychopharmacol 1993;13:397–408.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.