Psychiatria Danubina, Vol. 31 No. 2, 2019.
Review article
https://doi.org/10.24869/psyd.2019.148
AMISULPRIDE AS AN AUGMENTATION AGENT IN TREATMENT RESISTANT DEPRESSION: A CASE SERIES AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Hans Rittmannsberger
orcid.org/0000-0002-6567-4677
; Department of Psychiatry, General Hospital Steyr, Steyr, Austria; Department of Psychiatry 1, Kepler University Hospital, Linz, Austria
Abstract
Amisulpride (AMS) in low dosage has been used effectively for treatment of dysthymia. Yet there is a dearth of reports on its use as an augmentation agent in therapy-resistant depression. We deal with this issue presenting case reports and a review of the literature. The addition of 50 mg amisulpride (AMS) to antidepressant therapy in seven patients with depression at different stages of treatment resistance, one of them a case of recurrent brief depression, is described in this report. Augmentation with AMS led to a profound improvement in psychopathology in most patients. The only side effects were elevation of prolactin levels and occasional weight gain. In most cases, improvement occurred early, after only 1-2 weeks of treatment. In some patients, reduction or cessation of AMS led to an immediate and intense recurrence of depressive symptoms that resembled a withdrawal syndrome. Further investigations into the clinical utility and the mode of action of AMS as an augmentation agent are warranted.
Keywords
amisulpride; depression; treatment resistant; augmentation; withdrawal syndrome
Hrčak ID:
235072
URI
Publication date:
9.7.2019.
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