Amisulpride is effective in the medium-term treatment schizophrenic patients with predominantly negative symptoms.

The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale was applied to 60 depressed inpatients diagnosed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. The information to rate the scale was obtained with a semistructured interview to standardize the scale administration method. Items were factorized using principal components analysis with Varimax rotation. Three factors were obtained with the simulation method, accounting for 47% of variance. The first includes the core symptoms of depression. The symptoms of patients having an isolated mood disorder were compared with those having comorbidity with other diagnoses. The comorbidity did not affect the first factor but modified the second factor (anxiety) and the third factor (insomnia).

Plasma levels of free and sulfoconjugated 3,4-dihydroxyphenylethyleneglycol (DOPEG), the main deaminated metabolite of norepinephrine, were measured in a group of 45 hospitalized patients presenting a major depression and a group of 45 healthy subjects, matched for sex and age. Compared to healthy subjects, depressed patients had significantly lower plasma levels of free and sulfoconjugated DOPEG. The ratio of free over conjugated DOPEG was not statistically different in the two groups. The reduction of plasma DOPEG levels in the depressed patients did not appear to be related to the duration of drug-free period and was similar in males and females. There was no statistically significant correlation between plasma DOPEG levels and total score on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Finally, plasma DOPEG levels did not differ in unior bipolar patients. The present data provides further evidence for a reduced CNS noradrenergic transmission in major depression.

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