Loading...
Investigators have begun to elucidate complex changes in intracellular dynamics in mood disorders. The ubiquitous intracellular enzyme protein kinase C (PKC) seems to show increased activity in bipolar disorder. To evaluate the efficacy of tamoxifen, an estrogen receptor antagonist that inhibits PKC (Journal Watch Psychiatry Nov 5 2007), investigators in Turkey randomized 66 inpatients with mania to receive tamoxifen or placebo for 3 weeks.
The hospital provided structured activities, allowed adjunctive lorazepam, and permitted relatives to stay with patients. Few patients (tamoxifen recipients, 17%; placebo recipients, 32%) dropped out. Scores on a standardized mania scale increased in placebo recipients but decreased in tamoxifen recipient…