A double blind comparison of lofepramine, imipramine and placebo in patients with depression

The results of double blind trial in which 139 patients with primary depression were randomly assigned to either lofepramine (46), imipramine (48), or placebo (45) are discussed. After treatment with either active drug, lofepramine or imipramine, the clinical outcome was significantly greater than with placebo. No significant differences were found in clinical responses between lofepramine and imipramine. With regard to reported side effects, however, a statistically significant lower number of severe and/or moderate side effects were reported for the lofepramine group than for the imipramine group. In particular, for severe and/or moderate occurrences of dry mouth, the statistically significant lower incidence in favor of lofepramine is by almost a factor of 3 (8 lofepramine vs 21 imipramine patients).