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Tryptophan depletion in recently manic patients treated with lithium
F Cassidy1, E Murry, B J Carroll
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.
Biological Psychiatry
|March 12, 1998
Abstract
Background:
Serotonin has been repeatedly implicated in the mechanism of action of lithium against acute mania. Its role, however, has never been directly confirmed.
Methods:
We studied recently manic patients successfully treated with lithium using a tryptophan depletion methodology.
Results:
Patients remained euthymic despite a confirmed decrease in serum tryptophan levels.
Conclusions:
These data do not suggest that serotonin plays a critical role in the acute antimanic effect of lithium.