The effect of a 4-week treatment with reboxetine on metabolic parameters of depressed inpatients

In the present study, we examined several metabolic parameters in a group of 19 acutely depressed inpatients with major depression (DSM-IV) at baseline and investigated their development after 4 weeks of antidepressant treatment with reboxetine (8-12 mg per day). We performed oral glucose tolerance tests and additionally assessed free saliva cortisol and post-dexamethasone cortisol levels, as well as whole cholesterol, HDL- and LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, free fatty acids, waist and hip circumference, heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Furthermore, we evaluated the incidence of a metabolic syndrome and investigated the metabolic changes in depressed patients with and without a metabolic syndrome. We found 42.1% of patients to fulfil the criteria for a metabolic syndrome. Overall, reboxetine was well tolerated with essentially no side effects during the observation period. A 4-week treatment with reboxetine showed a beneficial effect on several metabolic parameters that was independent from treatment outcome and could therefore theoretically be attributed to the pharmacological profile of the drug. Due to the preliminary character of the present investigation, no conclusions about the clinical efficacy of reboxetine can be drawn.