Clinical and biochemical heterogeneity of depressive disorders.
PMID 25035 · Annals of internal medicine · 1978 · DOI 10.7326/0003-4819-88-4-556
Authors: J W Maas
Abstract
Indirect evidence, mostly pharmacologic, has suggested a role for brain neurotransmitter amines such as norepinephrine in the production of depression or mania. Clinical investigations have supported this concept but also indicate that depression is probably a biochemically heterogeneous group of illnesses. There may be a clinically, biochemically, and pharmacologically definable subtype of depression in which there is a disorder of norepinephrine metabolism or disposition in brain. I review here the experimental data from which this hypothesis is derived.
Amitriptyline; Animals; Antidepressive Agents; Brain; Depression; Desipramine; Dextroamphetamine; Emotions; Humans; Imipramine; Metanephrine; Methoxyhydroxyphenylglycol; Neurotransmitter Agents; Norepinephrine; Normetanephrine; Vanilmandelic Acid
Cite
J W Maas. Clinical and biochemical heterogeneity of depressive disorders. Annals of internal medicine (1978). PMID 25035. DOI 10.7326/0003-4819-88-4-556.