Scopolamine is an effective and rapid antidepressant in both unipolar and bipolar depression , working as quickly as 3 days after initial infusion .
OBJECTIVES The cholinergic-adrenergic hypothesis of mania and depression states that depression is characterized by an increase in central cholinergic activity relative to noradrenergic tone .
Scopolamine is a central ly acting competitive inhibitor of the muscarinic cholinergic receptor site .
This review seeks to find all available data investigating scopolamine as an antidepressant .
Baseline mood-state measures as predictors of antidepressant response to scopolamine
Identifying predictors of antidepressant response will facilitate the successful treatment of patients suffering from depression .  Scopolamine produces robust antidepressant responses in unipolar and bipolar depression . Here we evaluate the potential for baseline self-ratings to predict treatment response to scopolamine .  Fifty-one unipolar and bipolar patients participated in a double-blind , placebo-controlled crossover trial . Following a single-blind placebo session , participants r and omly received P/S or S/P ( P=3 placebo ; S=3 scopolamine ( 4μg/kg ) sessions ) . Mood-state self-ratings ( Profile of Mood State ( POMS ) and Visual Analog Scales ( VAS ) ) and depression severity ( Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale ( MADRS ) ) were obtained before each infusion . Day 1 ( baseline/placebo ) self-ratings were used in a discriminant function analysis to identify linear combinations of individual items that predict response . The discriminant analysis significantly separated responders from non-responders in both the unipolar and bipolar diagnostic subgroups . The discriminant functions accurately classified over 85 % of patients as responders/non-responders . The POMS depression subscale significantly correlated with clinical response , as did the VAS restlessness , sad , and irritated scales . These results indicate that self-report mood-ratings obtained before treatment can predict response outcome to scopolamine , and suggest that a constellation of mood-state features may be related to clinical response
Scopolamine is an effective and rapid antidepressant in both unipolar and bipolar depression , working as quickly as 3 days after initial infusion .
OBJECTIVES The cholinergic-adrenergic hypothesis of mania and depression states that depression is characterized by an increase in central cholinergic activity relative to noradrenergic tone .
Scopolamine is a central ly acting competitive inhibitor of the muscarinic cholinergic receptor site .
This review seeks to find all available data investigating scopolamine as an antidepressant .