The British Journal of Psychiatry 136: 359-365 (1980)
© 1980 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

Clinical and pharmacokinetic factors affecting response to phenelzine

P Tyrer, M Gardner, J Lambourn and M Whitford

Sixty patients, 30 with depressive neurosis, 15 with anxiety neurosis and 15 with phobic anxiety states, were treated with the monoamine oxidase inhibitor, phenelzine, in two different dosage schedules for four weeks. All patients received an initial dose of 15 mg daily, increasing to 30 mg daily between the third and seventh day, but subsequently, using double-blind procedure, one group tooke the commonly prescribed dose of 45 mg daily and the other took 90 mg daily. Acetylator status was independently determined before the start of treatment. Each diagnostic group showed a similar response to treatment, but patients taking the higher dose improved significantly more than those taking normal dosage, and the rate of improvement, measured by weekly self-ratings, was also more rapid with higher dosage. Acetylator status did not affect clinical response. The results suggest that dosage is more important in determining clinical response to phenelzine in neurotic disorder than specific diagnosis or acetylator status.

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