Response of psychotic and nonpsychotic depression to phenelzine

The authors studied 52 depressed inpatients to examine treatment response to phenelzine, a monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor. All patients were classified into one of three RDC categories (definitely psychotic, probably psychotic, and nonpsychotic). For the entire sample, the mean platelet MAO inhibition level achieved with phenelzine was greater than 80%. Response to treatment was determined by independent clinical assessment and by the change in rating scores from baseline; 68% of the nonpsychotic, 43% of the probably psychotic, and 21% of the definitely psychotic patients were classified as responders. This differential response rate is similar to that reported in the literature for tricyclic antidepressants.