title: Lithium carbonate response in depression. Prediction by unipolar/bipolar illness, average-evoked response, catechol-O-methyl transferase, and family history.
abstract: The antidepressant efficacy of lithium carbonate was assessed in a double-blind trial in 23 hospitalized depressed patients. Unequivocal response was significantly more frequent in bipolar than in unipolar depressed patients. Lithium carbonate responders had a greater visual average-evoked response amplitude increase in response to increased stimulus intensity, termed "augmenting". No correlation could be demonstrated between lithium carbonate efficacy and either erythrocyte catechol-O-methyl transferase activity, age of symptom onset, number of hospitalizations, or family history of affective disorders.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000201:enzymology; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008094:Lithium / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010775:Photic Stimulation
chemical_list: D008094:Lithium; D002394:Catechol O-Methyltransferase