Treatment-Responsiveness of Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia: A double-blind placebo-control clinical trial

Background: The negative symptoms of schizophrenia remain a major clinical challenge. Nortriptyline is a serotonin and noradrenalin reuptake inhibitor and belongs to secondary amine tricycles. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of nortriptyline on the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Methods: This study is a six-week randomized placebo-control trial of nortriptyline or placebo as an adjunctive to haloperidol (5 mg) in the treatment of 50 patients with Diagnostic and statistical manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) criteria for chronic schizophrenia. Result: The primary finding of the trial was a significant reduction in Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) in the nortriptyline group compared to placebo at the end of 6 week. All the subscales of SANS demonstrate significant improvement. Conclusion: This study suggests a potential role for nortriptyline in the treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia.Iran J Med Sci 2006; 31(3): 135-138. Keywords ● Schizophrenia ● negative symptom ● nortriptyline