Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Fixed Dose Trial of Minaprine in Patients With Major Depression

Abstract

Minaprine dihydrochloride is a novel psychotropic drug possessing both antidepressant and psycho-stimulant properties. Prior clinical studies have shown minaprine to be as effective as standard antidepressant agents in the treatment of endogenous depression. The present study examined the safety and efficacy of minaprine at four different doses compared to placebo in 190 outpatients with major depression. Overall, minaprine demonstrated a significant antidepressant action compared to placebo, which was most evident at the maximum dose of 400 mg daily. These data, together with a favorable side effects profile, suggest that minaprine may be an effective antidepressant agent for the treatment of major depression.

Clinical and biochemical aspects of depressive disorders: III. Treatment and controversies

“…It is available in France, but relatively few placebo-controlled trials for depression have been carried out. It appears to be adequately tolerated and to have potential as an antidepressant agent (Amsterdam et al, 1989).…”

Trajectories of depressive symptoms, dopamine D2 and D4 receptors, family socioeconomic status and social support in adolescence and young adulthood

“…Clinical studies have shown antidepressant effects of dopamine agonists including piribedil (Post et al, 1978) and bromocriptine (Colonna et al, 1979;Nordin et al, 1981;Silverstone, 1984), and dopamine uptake inhibitors such as nominfesine (Vanscheyen et al, 1977), bupropion (Feighner et al, 1984), minaprine (Amsterdam et al, 1989), and amineptine (Rampello et al, 1991). In contrast, dopamine receptor antagonists enhance the depression-like symptoms (Mann and Kapur, 1995).…”

Computerised psychomotor performance testing: a comparative study of the single dose pharmacodynamics of minaprine and amitriptyline in young and elderly subjects

“…Minaprine enhances serotinergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission but without effects of noradrenergic transmission while it is devoid of anticholinergic effects [5,6]. Minaprine has a t',2 of 2 h while its major metabolite, the activity of which is still unknown, has a t i , / of 20 h [7]. Minaprine 100 mg twice daily compared with imipramine 50 mg twice daily, in a randomised doubleblind trial of 104 patients with DSM-III defined depression, had comparable efficacy, as judged by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, a clinical global impression and the Zung self-rating scale while having fewer adverse effects [8].…”