[Activity and acceptability of indalpine in a double-blind study versus placebo]

In this double-bind randomized study involving 35 depressed female inpatients, Indalpine proved significantly superior to placebo on all the criteria used: Hamilton scales for depression and anxiety, clinician's vectorial ratings. Its rapid onset of action was further confirmed by the rapid appearance of significance relative to placebo: as early as the third day of treatment, that is, during the optimum placebo effect period. The results are all more valuable if one considers the magnitude of the placebo effect obtained with daily infusions of isotonic sodium chloride-dextros solution, the possible adjunction of a benzodiazepine and the availability of placebo tablets as an adjunct to the infusions upon request. Acceptabilité was found to be good, especially at the cardiovascular and cholinergic levels.