ANCOVA was also used to analyse the correlation between NE as dependent variable and lnAVP as covariate in interaction with the subcategory of PSDEP, with smoking habit and tricyclic drug treatment as confounding variables. Partial correlations between NE and lnAVP were used within the subgroups of PSDEP and non-PSDEP and within the subgroups of melancholic PSDEP in all other patients, controlling for the effects of smoking habit, tricyclic treatment and antipsychotic drug dosage. Fisher’s z thenthereby statistics were used

to test the differences between these correlations. The analyses were carried out with the Statistical Package for the Social Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Sciences (SPSS) V.18.0. Results Demographic and clinical data The mean age of the 78 www.selleckchem.com/products/SB-203580.html patients with complete NE data was 40.2 years (SD = 11.5 years; range 20–64 years); 52 patients (67%) were women. Mean severity according to the MADRS was 30 (SD = 6). The mean age of the nine Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical patients with PSDEP was 44.6 years (SD = 12.5 years) and of the 69 patients with non-PSDEP it was 39.7 years (SD

= 11.4 years). The melancholic subtype of depression according to DSM-IV criteria was present in 36 of the 78 patients (46%). Twenty-six patients (33%) had HAR depression. HAR was present in 22 of the 36 patients (61%) with melancholia, and melancholia was present in 22 of 26 patients (85%) with HAR depression. Seven of the nine psychotic patients Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (78%) had antidepressant treatment versus 42 of the 69 nonpsychotic patients (61%). Seventy-five patients had complete NE and AVP data. Nine of these 75 patients (12%) had psychotic depression. Fourteen (19%) had ANA depression. Seven of the 25 patients with Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical HAR (28%) had ANA depression, and HAR was present in 50% of the patients with ANA depression. ANA depression was present in 9 of the 34 patients (27%) with Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical melancholia, and melancholia was present in 64% of patients with ANA depression. Mean antipsychotic, antidepressant and benzodiazepine dosages, if the dosage was greater than 0, were 3.4 mg (SD = 2.8 mg) haloperidol

equivalents, 157 mg (SD = 84 mg) imipramine equivalents, and 38 mg (SD = 41 mg) chlordiazepoxide equivalents. Drug_discovery Ten patients (3 with PSDEP) used a tricyclic antidepressant, 20 patients (3 with PSDEP) used an SSRI and 16 patients used an serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) (1 with PSDEP). Mean equivalent dosages for these three groups were 173 mg (SD = 82 mg), 160 mg (SD = 57 mg) and 157 (SD = 116 mg) respectively. Nine of the 10 patients with tricyclic treatment had a higher dose than 100 mg, which is about the mean dose minus twice the SD of the study that demonstrated the increasing effect on plasma NE [Veith et al. 1994]. The one patient with a too low dose had PSDEP and used 75 mg. We used the criterion of at least 100 mg for the selection of patients with a minimally adequate dose, hereafter called ‘tricyclic treatment’.