Gabapentin, a novel antiepileptic drug, is effective in the treatment of partial seizures with and without secondary generalization. Evidence suggests that it may have mood-stabilizing and possibly ...antidepressant properties in bipolar depression. We report on a 48-year-old woman who had recurrent major depressive disorder. Following inguinal herniorrhaphy, she developed severe stabbing pain in the lower abdomen and inguinal area that progressed to constant pain in her whole body. She was depressive, hopeless, and had given up her social activities. A diagnosis of major depressive disorder and somatoform pain disorder was made. Antidepressants and carbamazepine were ineffective, and she had attempted suicide. Gabapentin resulted in remission of both the pain and the depressive mood at a dose of 1.800 mg/day.
The conditions of detached solidification under controlled pressure differential across the meniscus were investigated. Uncoated and graphite- or BN-coated silica and pBN crucibles were used. ...Detached and partly detached growth was achieved in pBN and BN-coated crucibles, respectively. The results of the experiments are discussed based on the theory of Duffar et al.
Several (1
1
1)-oriented, Ga-doped germanium crystals were grown in pyrolytic boron nitride (pBN) containers by the Bridgman and the detached Bridgman growth techniques. Growth experiments in ...closed-bottom pBN containers resulted in nearly completely detached-grown crystals, because the gas pressure below the melt can build up to a higher pressure than above the melt. With open-bottom tubes the gas pressure above and below the melt is balanced during the experiment, and thus no additional force supports the detachment. In this case the crystals grew attached to the wall. Etch pit density (EPD) measurements along the axial growth direction indicated a strong improvement of the crystal quality of the detached-grown samples compared to the attached samples. Starting in the seed with an EPD of 6–8×10
3
cm
−2 it decreased in the detached-grown crystals continuously to about 200–500
cm
−2. No significant radial difference between the EPD on the edge and the middle of these crystals exists. In the attached grown samples the EPD increases up to a value of about 2–4×10
4
cm
−2 (near the edge) and up to 1×10
4
cm
−2 in the middle of the sample. Thus the difference between the detached- and the attached-grown crystals with respect to the EPD is approximately two orders of magnitude.
Preliminary data have shown that St John's wort might possess some specific efficacy in patients with somatoform complaints. Therefore, the efficacy of the Hypericum extract LI 160 in patients with ...somatoform disorders should be studied in a double-blind placebo-controlled fashion.
This was a multicentre, randomised, placebo controlled, 6-week trial comparing the efficacy of LI 160 (600 mg/day) and placebo in 151 out-patients suffering from somatization disorder (ICD-10: F45.0), undifferentiated somatoform disorder (F45.1), or somatoform autonomic dysfunctions (F45.3). The primary outcome measure was the decrease of the Hamilton Anxiety Scale, subfactor somatic anxiety (HAMA-SOM), during the trial period.
LI 160 was superior effective concerning the primary outcome criterion HAMA-SOM decrease from 15.39 (SD 2.68) to 6.64 (4.32) in the Hypericum group and from 15.55 (2.94) to 11.97 (5.58) in the placebo group (statistically significant difference, P=0.001). This was corroborated by the result of a statistically significant superior efficacy in the outcome criteria additionally used such as Clinical Global Impression, HAMA-total score, HAMA, subscore psychic anxiety, Hamilton Depression Scale, Self-Report Symptom Inventory 90 items - revised (SCL-90-R), and SCL-90-R, subscore somatic anxiety. The efficacy of LI 160 was preserved after splitting the population in those with and those without mild depressive symptoms corrected. Tolerability of LI 160 was excellent.
The data from this trial show excellent efficacy and tolerability for LI 160 in somatoform disorders. The efficacy is independent of an existing depressive mood. This is the first study showing the efficacy of a drug in patients with somatisation disorder independent of depressive symptomatology.
In a controlled clinical inpatient trial (
n = 93) comparing the efficacy and safety of brofaromine versus tranylcypromine for 6 weeks in treatment-resistant major depressed patients, the two drugs ...were found to be of comparable afficacy and tolerability. The response rate (a 50% reduction) on the Hamilton Scale for Depression (HAMD) in both groups was about 73%. The most common side effects in the brofaromine group were sleep disorders, hypotension, tremor and dryness of mouth; and in the tranylcypromine group sleep disorders, fatique, hypotension, tremor and vertigo. Methodological and practical clinical implications of the results are discussed.
Opipramol, a drug widely prescribed in Germany, is a tricyclic compound with no reuptake-inhibiting properties. However, it has pronounced D2-, 5-HT2-, and H1-blocking potential and high affinity to ...sigma receptors (sigma-1 and sigma-2). In early controlled trials, anxiolytic effects were revealed. However, those studies were performed before the concept of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) was established. Because of the interesting receptor-binding profile and promising results of the early clinical trials, the authors performed a state-of-the-art placebo-controlled trial using alprazolam as an active control. Three hundred seven outpatients with GAD were included. After a 7-day single-blind placebo washout, patients were randomly assigned to receive either opipramol (final dose, 200 mg/day), alprazolam (2 mg/day), or placebo and were treated for 28 days. The efficacy of both active compounds was higher than the effects with placebo treatment. There were statistically significant differences (p < 0.05, according to the analysis of covariance) in the main outcome criterion (baseline-adjusted final means of an intent-to-treat analysis of the total scores on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety) and in secondary efficacy parameters, with global improvement of 47% for placebo and significantly more for opipramol (63%) and alprazolam (64%). Regarding safety and tolerability, no substantial differences in the number of adverse events observed between treatment groups were obvious. Sedation seemed more pronounced with alprazolam treatment than with opipramol or placebo. In this trial, it was demonstrated for the first time that opipramol, a strong but nonselective sigma site ligand, possesses anxiolytic efficacy superior to placebo in the treatment of GAD.
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