[New antidepressant multicenter study in hospitalized patients: quinupramine (author's transl)]

Quinupramine is a novel and original antidepressant due to its selective and specific affinity for central muscarinic receptors and the lack of subsequent metabolites. These properties enable its use at low doses i.e. tablets and ampoules are dosed at 2.5 mg. A multi-centre trial with quinupramine was conducted in 25 hospital centers, involving 364 patients suffering from all types of depression, of which more than a third constituted by endogenous depression. The results indicated genuine antidepressant activity with notable achievement of manic swing. Its profile appears to be balanced with simultaneous improvement in mood disorders, psychomotor inhibition and insomnia. The onset of activity is rapid (about 8 days in half the cases). Tolerance was considered to be very good, while minimal side-effects only very rarely warranted corrective treatment. Quinupramine appears to be equally active as the reference antidepressants and is particularly well tolerated.