The development of therapeutic strategies to effectively treat negative symptoms remains one of the primary goals in the treatment of schizophrenia. Mirtazapine is the first of a new class of dual action compounds, the noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressants (NaSSa), whose activity is related to the enhancement of noradrenergic and serotonergic transmission by a presynaptic alpha2 antagonism and postsynaptic 5-HT2 and 5-HT3 antagonism, respectively. This study was a 8-week double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 30 mg adjunctive mirtazapine to clozapine therapy in 24 patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia. The main finding at the end of the trial was a significant reduction on the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) total scores in the mirtazapine group compared to placebo (P<0.01) with a significant improvement on the SANS subscales avolition/apathy and anhedonia/asociality. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale total score at week 8 showed superiority of mirtazapine over placebo. These findings suggest a potential role for mirtazapine as an augmentation strategy in the treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia.

The effect of mirtazapine augmentation of clozapine in the treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study

ZOCCALI, Rocco Antonio;MUSCATELLO, Maria Rosaria Anna;CEDRO, Clemente;LA TORRE, Diletta;SPINA, Edoardo;DI ROSA, Antonio;MEDURI, Mario
2004-01-01

Abstract

The development of therapeutic strategies to effectively treat negative symptoms remains one of the primary goals in the treatment of schizophrenia. Mirtazapine is the first of a new class of dual action compounds, the noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressants (NaSSa), whose activity is related to the enhancement of noradrenergic and serotonergic transmission by a presynaptic alpha2 antagonism and postsynaptic 5-HT2 and 5-HT3 antagonism, respectively. This study was a 8-week double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 30 mg adjunctive mirtazapine to clozapine therapy in 24 patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia. The main finding at the end of the trial was a significant reduction on the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) total scores in the mirtazapine group compared to placebo (P<0.01) with a significant improvement on the SANS subscales avolition/apathy and anhedonia/asociality. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale total score at week 8 showed superiority of mirtazapine over placebo. These findings suggest a potential role for mirtazapine as an augmentation strategy in the treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
2004
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11570/1890274
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo

Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 9
  • Scopus 89
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 69
social impact