Single-Blind, Placebo Phase-in Trial of Two Escalating Doses of Selegiline in the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
NeuropsychobiologyPublished 1 January 1998
Benjamin H. Natelson, Joseph Cheu, Nancy Hill, Michael A. Bergen, Leo R. Korn, Thomas N. Denny
Citations55
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.00
SNIP0.91
Generate an AI Snapshot to get a quick, structured summary of this paper.
Study Snapshot
ObjectiveStudy objective
MethodsResearch methodology
PopulationPopulation studied
Sample sizeSample sizes
OutcomesStudy outcomes here
ResultsStudy results comes here
LimitationsResearch study limitations comes here
A concise AI-generated summary of the paper will appear here once you click Generate AI Snapshot.
TL;DR
Significant improvement in 3 variables – tension/anxiety, vigor and sexual relations – was found and a significant pattern of improvement compared to worsening was found for the 19 self-report vehicles during active treatment as compared with placebo treatment.
Abstract
AIM: To perform a clinical trial of selegiline in 25 patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) where patients were told they would receive placebo or active agent at different times during the 6-week trial. We chose selegiline, a specific monoamine oxidase (MAO) B receptor inhibitor, because a prior trial of lowdose phenelzine, a nonspecific MAO inhibitor, showed a small but significant therapeutic effect. METHODS: Questionnaires comprised of 19 tests of mood, fatigue, functional status and symptom severity were collected at the start and end of the trial as well as 2 weeks after its start. The trial was done in three 2-week blocks: in the first, 2 placebo pills were given per day; in the next, one 5-mg tablet of agent and one placebo were given per day, and in the last, a 5-mg tablet of agent was given twice a day. The plan was to compare the changes in the 19 tests during the placebo phase to those found in the active treatment phase in 19 patients completing the trial. FINDINGS: Significant improvement in 3 variables-tension/anxiety, vigor and sexual relations-was found. A significant pattern of improvement compared to worsening was found for the 19 self-report vehicles during active treatment as compared with placebo treatment. Evidence for an antidepressant effect of the drug was not found. CONCLUSIONS: Selegiline has a small but significant therapeutic effect in CFS which appears independent of an antidepressant effect.
Keywords
MedicineNeuroscience
Annals of Internal MedicineThe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Comprehensive Approach to Its Definition and Study
5,018 Citations1994Keiji Fukuda, Stephen E. Straus +5 more
This work proposes a conceptual framework and a set of guidelines that provide a comprehensive, systematic, and integrated approach to the evaluation, classification, and study of persons with this condition and other fatiguing illnesses.
Annals of Internal MedicineChronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Working Case Definition
1,722 Citations1988Gary P. Holmes, JONATHAN E. KAPLAN +14 more
A new name is proposed for the chronic Epstein-Barr virus syndrome--the chronic fatigue syndrome--that more accurately describes this symptom complex as a syndrome of unknown cause characterized primarily by chronic fatigue.
The LancetAntibodies to human herpesvirus type 8 in the general population and in Kaposi's sarcoma patients
545 Citations1996Evelyne T. Lennette, David J. Blackbourn +1 more
The data are consistent with HHV-8 being primarily associated with sexual transmission, but the HHV -8 seropositivity rate in American children suggests that there is a non-sexual route of HHv-8 infection also.
Archives of General PsychiatryAssessing Depression in Primary Medical and Psychiatric Practices
503 Citations1985Herbert C. Schulberg
It is found that primary care clinicians underdiagnose depressive disorder while psychiatric clinicians overdiagnose it relative to the Diagnostic Interview Schedule.
American Journal of PsychiatryCognitive behavior therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome: a randomized controlled trial
493 Citations1997Alicia Deale, Trudie Chalder +2 more
Cognitive behavior therapy was more effective than a relaxation control in the management of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and improvements were sustained over 6 months of follow-up.
BMJRandomised controlled trial of graded exercise in patients with the chronic fatigue syndrome
442 Citations1997K. Y Fulcher, Peter D. White
Clinical Infectious DiseasesSymptoms and Signs of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
275 Citations1991Anthony L. Komaroff, D Buchwald
The most characteristic symptoms of CFS are the sudden onset of an infectious-type illness, the subsequent chronic and debilitating fatigue, and postexertional malaise; many patients also have recurrent fevers, pharyngitis, adenopathy, myalgias, sleep disorders, and cognitive impairment.
The LancetRandomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of fluoxetine in chronic fatigue syndrome
259 Citations1996Jan H. Vercoulen, Marion P.E. Hoofs +7 more
The LancetRed blood cell magnesium and chronic fatigue syndrome
227 Citations1991I.M. Cox, Michael J. Campbell +1 more
It is shown that magnesium may have a role in CFS and patients treated with magnesium claimed to have improved energy levels, better emotional state, and less pain, as judged by changes in the Nottingham health profile.
The American Journal of MedicineImmunologic and psychologic therapy for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
177 Citations1993Andrew R. Lloyd, Ian B. Hickie +5 more
Patients with CFS did not demonstrate a specific response to immunologic and/or psychologic therapy, and the improvement recorded in the group as a whole may reflect both nonspecific treatment effects and a propensity to remission in the natural history of this disorder.
Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & PsychiatryNeuropsychological impairments in chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, and depression.
159 Citations1995John DeLuca, Susan K. Johnson +2 more
The chronic fatigue syndrome group did not differ from the depressed group in overall neuropsychological performance, but differed from the multiple sclerosis and control groups, and the most significant impairment was in information processing speed in the chronic fatigue Syndrome group.
Journal of NeuropsychiatryA comparison of neuropsychiatric characteristics in chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, and major depression
134 Citations1993Carolyn M. Pepper, Lauren Krupp +3 more
Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome differed from patients with major depression, with significantly less depression and fewer personality disorders, but they did have significantly more frequent current depression than MS patients, particularly following onset of their illness.
Clinical Infectious DiseasesA Controlled Clinical Trial with a Specifically Configured RNA Drug, Poly(I). POly(C12U), in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
129 Citations1994David R. Strayer, William A. Carter +9 more
Patients given poly(I).poly(C12U) had increased Karnofsky performance scores, exhibited a greater ability to do work during exercise treadmill testing, displayed an enhanced capacity to perform the activities of daily living, and required less use of other medications.
PsychopharmacologyRandomized, double blind, controlled placebo-phase in trial of low dose phenelzine in the chronic fatigue syndrome
85 Citations1996Benjamin H. Natelson, Juan A. Pareja +4 more
The data support the hypothesis of reduced sympathetic drive, although an alternative hypothesis of pain alleviation is also possible, and no evidence for this was found, suggesting that CFS is not an illness due to patients' being overly suggestible.
NeuropsychobiologyAmantadine and L-Carnitine Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
80 Citations2008Audrius V. Plioplys, Sigita Plioplys
L-carnitine is a safe and very well tolerated medicine which improves the clinical status of CFS patients and is found statistically significant clinical improvement in 12 of the 18 studied parameters after 8 weeks of treatment.
Clinical Infectious DiseasesReducing Heterogeneity in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Comparison with Depression and Multiple Sclerosis
53 Citations1995Benjamin H. Natelson, Susan K. Johnson +5 more
Stratification to exclude patients with prior psychiatric disease and those with mild CFS allowed us to define a group of patients with CFS who more resembled patients with mild MS than patients with major depression or dysthymia and thus were more likely to have illness with an infectious or immunologic cause.
PubMedGamma globulin therapy for chronic mononucleosis syndrome.
40 Citations1986DuBois Re
It would appear that intramuscular gamma globulin treatment is efficacious in the treatment of CMS and that the average interval between treatments is three weeks.
PubMedPharmacokinetics of monoamine oxidase inhibitors.
36 Citations1991Alan G. Mallinger, Evan Smith
This review summarizes the existing pharmacokinetic literature on tranylcypromine, phenelzine, moclobemide, and selegiline and predicts that these drugs and others like them promise to become increasingly important in modern psychopharmacologic practice.
Life SciencesAge-related memory decline and longevity under treatment with selegiline
28 Citations1994S. Stoll, Ulrike Hafner +2 more
The studies in mice and Syrian hamsters aim at the question whether the effects of selegiline reported in the rat can be generalized to other species and suggest a protective effect of a chronic treatment with seLegiline against age-related cognitive and physical decline.
International Clinical PsychopharmacologyAn open study of the efficacy and adverse effects of moclobemide in patients with the chronic fatigue syndrome
25 Citations1997Peter D. White, Kim Cleary
The results do not support moclobemide as an effective treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome in the absence of a major depressive disorder and a randomized, placebo-controlled trial is needed to confirm this.
BiotherapyThe influence of age on transfer factor treatment of cellular immunodeficiency, chronic fatigue syndrome and/or chronic viral infections
10 Citations1996I Hána, J Vrubel +2 more
It is shown that age substantially influences the failure rate of CID treatment using TF, and in older people, it is easier to improve the clinical condition than CID: this may be related to the diminished number of lymphocytes, however, a placebo effect cannot be totally excluded.