Pharmacopsychiatry 2007; 40 - A022
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-991697

Preliminary investigations on immune parameters in remitted patients with an affective disorder after amantadine treatment

J Chen 1, M Rothermundt 2, G Karoutzou 1, Y Zhang 1, EC Ebmeyer 1, M Peters 2, H Kirchner 3, V Arolt 2, HM Emrich 1, DE Dietrich 1
  • 1Department of Clinical Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School Hannover, Hannover
  • 2Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, WestfaelischeWilhelms-University, Muenster
  • 3Institute of Immunology and Transfusion Medicine, University of Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck

INTRODUCTION: Immunological changes are known in depression, however, whether such changes also exist in the remitted phase of affective disorders and whether amantadine influences immune parameters in these patients remain unclear. We investigated IFN-gamma, IL-2, sIL-2R, IL-6, etc. in remitted depressive patients before and after treatment with amantadine. Methods: Twelve remitted patients, who fulfill the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria of an affective disorder, received a six-week treatment randomly either with amantadine (200mg/day) or placebo (each with one week wash-out period) within a cross-over study. Therefore, all patients received amantadine and placebo in fourteen weeks. IL2, IL6, etc. and HAMD Scores of Week 0 and Week 14 were compared with paired T-test. Results: Only IL-6 level significantly decreased from Week 0 to Week 14 (P=0.034), while the other immune parameters (e.g. IL-2, sIL-2R, IFN-gamma, etc.) and the clinical symptoms showed no significant changes (all P>0.05). Conclusions: The reduction of IL-6 after amantadine treatment suggests immunomodulatory effects of this compound, e.g. it might block the action of pro-inflammatory cytokines or support anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Further investigations are needed to substantiate the potential mechanisms underlying these findings.