No abstract available.
Hyperamylasemia* ; Sertraline*

OBJECT: This study was undertaken to know whether there is any therapeutic effecets of sertraline in treatment-resistant schizophrenics. METHOD: Seventy seven treatment-resistant schizophrenic patients, to whom the same antipsychotics as usual were administered, were randomly assigned to two groups; to the experimental group, sertraline was and to the controlled group, placebo was administered adjuntively for 6weeks in single blind design. We assessed psychopathology by BPRS, PANSS, YBOCS, HRSD, and SCL-90-R. RESULTS: BPRS, positive scale of PANSS, and HRSD were significantly decreased in experimental group and statistically siginificant differences between the experimental group and placebo group. Negative scale of PANSS and YBOCS were significantly decresed in experimental group but no statistically significant differences between the experimental group and placebo group. The therapeutic effect of sertraline was occurred within 3rd weeks. CONCLUSION: We suggested that sertraline may be useful in the treatment of schizophrenic symtom in treatment-resistent schizophrenia, especially in positive and depressive symptoms.
Antipsychotic Agents ; Depression ; Humans ; Psychopathology ; Schizophrenia ; Sertraline*

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of adjuvant sertraline treatment in chronic schizophrenic patients, we carried out a double-blind, placebo controlled study. METHOD: Thirty six inpatients who fulfilled DSM-III-R criteria for chronic schizophrenia were randomly assigned to sertraline and placebo groups in a double-blinded fashion. A history of at least 2 years of illness and at least six months of hospitalization were prerequisities for inclusion in the study. Patients were received sertraline 50mg or placebo for 8 weeks in addition to their routine haloperidol regimen, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS), Clinical Global Impression(CGI), Simpson-Angus Scale(S-A) were evaluated at 5 points ; baseline, 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: The groups were controlled for age, gender, and length of illness. There were no significant differences in three PANSS factros(positive, negative, general), CGI and S-A scale scores at any between sertraline and placebo treatment. CONCLUSION: This placebo controlled study showed no significant effects of sertraline on negative and positive symptoms in chronic schizophrenic patients.
Haloperidol ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Inpatients ; Schizophrenia* ; Sertraline*

This study investigated the antidepressant efficacy and it's impact on the quality of life of depressed patients. We performed Hamilton Depression Rating Scale(HDRS), and Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale(MADRS), and Health-related Quality of Life Questionnaire(HQLQ) to both tricyclic antidepressant(TCA) and sertraline groups. There were 16 subjects in the study. The tricyclic group had 9 subjects and the sertraline group had 7. The TCA and sertraline produced a similar degree of response. Both groups experienced a reduction of 70% or more in mean HDRS and MADRS total score after 6wks. In HQLQ, the TCAs group also showed improved bed disability days, alertness behavior, and social interaction, the sertraline group showed improved health perception, alertness behavior, home management, and social interaction. We suggested that the improvement of "Quality of life" were not in proportion to the clinical symptom's improvement. Therefore, clinicians should consider the benefit of antidepressant treatment in terms of quality of life.
Depression ; Humans ; Interpersonal Relations ; Quality of Life* ; Sertraline

The study was designed to evaluate the effects of sertraline on l% sucrose intake and weight change in rats with chronic unpredictable mild stress and normal controls. We applied 11 types of stress regimens and identified depressive behaviours in 18 Spraque-Dawley rats for 8 weeks. After 4 weeks of chronic unpredictable mild stress procedure, those 18 rats were stratified into a sertraline-treated subgroup and a saline subgroup. Also nonstressed 18 rats were stratified into the sertraline-treated subgroup and the saline subgroup and were started intraperitoneal injections of sertraline(4.29mg/Kg) or saline for rest of 4 weeks. The 1% sucrose intake and the body weight were checked on the 4th day of every week, over the 8 weeks of experiment. The results were as follows: 1) The sertraline-treated subgroup of chronic unpredictable mild stressed rats showed significant increase of 1% sucrose intake between the 1st week and the 2nd, the 3rd and 4th week, while the sertraline-treated subgroup of non-stressed rats showed decreasing trend for 1% sucrose intake. 2) The sertraline-treated subgroup of chronic unpredictable mild-stressed rats showed a sustained decrease of body weight, while the sertraline-treated subgroup of non-stressed rats showed a non-significant increase of body weight. 3) In the group subjected to chronic unpredictable mild stress, there were no significant correlations between 1% sucrose intake and body weight and also no correlations in the nonstressed group. In summary, sertraline had an effect on restoring the decreased 1% sucrose intake to normal condition but no effect on regaining the body weight in the chronic unpredictable mild stresstreated rats. Sertraline resulted in a decrease of l% sucrose intake and no effect on body weight in the non-stressed rats.
Animals ; Body Weight* ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Rats* ; Sertraline* ; Sucrose*

OBJECTIVE: The present study explored the three-dimensional spatial arrangements of the neurons and glial cells within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of rats. METHODS: It evaluated the arrangement for differences after stress with or without treatment with curcumin and sertraline using second-order stereology. Orientator method was applied to obtain isotropic uniform random sections of mPFC. The pair correlation g(r) and cross-correlation functions were estimated by counting dipole probes superimposed on histological sections of mPFC. RESULTS: The mean total volume of neurons and glial cells was 0.80 (0.05) and 0.40 (0.07), respectively in the control group. The corresponding values decreased by 50% in the stressed group. The curve of g(r) for the neurons and glial cells showed a wider gap between the stressed rats' mPFC. Theses indicate a negative correlation (repulsion) between the neurons and glial cells in the stressed rats. Evaluation of the cross-correlation function of the neurons and glial cells also showed a negative correlation in the stressed group. The estimated values of the global degree of order in the spatial point pattern for neurons and glial cells were 0.62 and 0.20 in control and stressed animals, respectively. Curcumin and sertraline protected the spatial arrangements of the cells after stress induction in rats. In addition, the volume of the neurons and glial cells remained unchanged after stress. CONCLUSION: Dissociation of the neurons and glial cells can is seen at some places in the stressed rats' cortex. However, the spatial arrangement of the cells was remained unchanged in curcumin+stress and sertraline+stress rats.
Animals ; Cerebral Cortex ; Curcumin* ; Neuroglia* ; Neurons* ; Prefrontal Cortex* ; Rats ; Sertraline* ; Spatial Analysis

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to investigate differences in discontinuation time among antidepressants and total antidepressant discontinuation rate of patients with depression over a 6 month period in a naturalistic treatment setting. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 900 patients with major depressive disorder who were initially prescribed only one kind of antidepressant. The prescribed antidepressants and the reasons for discontinuation were surveyed at baseline and every 4 weeks during the 24 week study. We investigated the discontinuation rate and the mean time to discontinuation among six antidepressants groups. RESULTS: Mean and median overall discontinuation times were 13.8 and 12 weeks, respectively. Sertraline and escitalopram had longer discontinuation times than that of fluoxetine, and patients who used sertraline discontinued use significantly later than those taking mirtazapine. No differences in discontinuation rate were observed after 24 weeks among these antidepressants. About 73% of patients discontinued antidepressant treatment after 24 weeks. CONCLUSION: Sertraline and escitalopram tended to have longer mean times to discontinuation, although no difference in discontinuation rate was detected between antidepressants after 24 weeks. About three-quarters of patients discontinued antidepressant maintenance therapy after 24 weeks.
Antidepressive Agents* ; Citalopram ; Depression ; Depressive Disorder, Major* ; Fluoxetine ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Sertraline

Many studies have reported reduced beta-adrenergic receptor responsiveness in major depression, but there were few studies to see the effect of antidepressant treatment on beta-adrenergic receptor function in depressed patients. This study examined beta-adrenergic receptor responsiveness in patients with major depression before and after antidepressant treatment. After careful psychiatric interviews by two experienced psychiatrists, twenty depressed patients (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores>18) were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of double-blind treatment with either milnacipran or sertraline. Twenty normal control subjects who had no previous history of major medical and psychiatric illness were matched with the patients considering age, sex and body mass index. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) were performed to assess clinical change of depression in the patients before and after treatment. We measured the lymphocyte cyclic AMP ratio (ratio of isoproterenol-stimulated cAMP/ basal cAMP), beta-adrenergic receptor density (Bmax) and receptor affinity (Kd) in all subjects. Depressed patients showed much lower HAM-D scores (25.7+/-4.8 vs. 14.3+/-9.1, p=0.002), MADRS scores (34.3+/-5.7 vs. 21.5+/-13.1, p=0.005) and HAM-A scores (31.4+/-7.9 vs. 22.1+/-13.5, p=0.040) after 8 weeks of antidepressant treatment than those before treatment. There were statistically significant differences in the means of Bmax and Kd between control subjects and patients before treatment. Contrary to our expectation, there was no statistically significant difference in the means of cAMP ratio between the two groups. Lymphocyte Bmax (4.90+/-3.08 vs. 8.13+/-3.08, p=0.027) and Kd (63.61+/-6.52 vs. 70.89+/-9.40, p=0.029) in the patients increased after antidepressant treatment. This result suggests that antidepressant treatment increases beta-adrenergic receptor responsiveness in depressed patients.
Anxiety ; Body Mass Index ; Cyclic AMP ; Depression* ; Humans ; Lymphocytes ; Psychiatry ; Sertraline

OBJECTIVE: It is unclear whether selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can significantly increase the prolactin level. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between the prolactin level and the administration of SSRIs such as escitalopram and sertraline. An additional purpose was to determine whether the elevation of prolactin differs between escitalopram and sertraline treatment. METHODS: Serum prolactin levels were measured at baseline and after 3 months in 23 patients who received SSRI monotherapy with escitalopram (n=18) (ESC group) or sertraline (n=5) (SERT group) for 3 months. RESULTS: The prevalence of hyperprolactinemia at posttreatment was 34.8% (8/23). The overall pretreatment and posttreatment prolactin levels were 21.86±20.21 and 19.89±12.03 ng/mL (mean±SD), respectively, with ranges of 6.85–86.20 and 5.19–47.61 ng/mL. The pretreatment and posttreatment prolactin levels were 20.66±15.92 and 21.97±12.33 ng/mL, respectively, in the ESC group, and 26.18±33.75 and 12.43±7.76 ng/mL in the SERT group. CONCLUSION: Clinicians should be aware that hyperprolactinemia can appear in patients receiving escitalopram or sertraline, even though they do not need routine monitoring for prolactin levels.
Citalopram ; Depressive Disorder, Major* ; Humans ; Hyperprolactinemia ; Prevalence ; Prolactin* ; Prospective Studies* ; Serotonin ; Sertraline

Galactorrhea, as an adverse effect of psychotropic medications, usually develops due to high dose of antipsychotics. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have also been reported to be related to galactorrhea. To the best of our knowledge, no previous study reported galactorrhea with methylphenidate (MPH) use. Hereby, we report a case of an adolescent girl who developed galactorrhea after increasing his modifed-release oral MPH to 50 mg/day while under treatment of sertraline and very low dose haloperidol.
Adolescent* ; Antipsychotic Agents ; Female ; Galactorrhea* ; Haloperidol ; Humans ; Methylphenidate* ; Pregnancy ; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors ; Sertraline