A controlled trial of fluvoxamine in obsessive-compulsive disorder: implications for a serotonergic theory

Am J Psychiatry. 1990 Sep;147(9):1209-15. doi: 10.1176/ajp.147.9.1209.

Abstract

Thirty-eight patients with primary obsessive-compulsive disorder participated in a 10-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the potent, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluvoxamine. Fluvoxamine was significantly better than placebo on two of three measures of improvement in obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The authors also compared studies of the serotonergic agents fluvoxamine, sertraline, fluoxetine, and clomipramine and found that a greater effect size was associated with less serotonergic specificity and that some ability to affect other neurotransmitter systems may be a necessary but not sufficient requirement for antiobsessional activity. These data lend only partial support to a serotonin hypothesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Controlled Clinical Trial
  • Meta-Analysis
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • 1-Naphthylamine / analogs & derivatives
  • 1-Naphthylamine / therapeutic use
  • Adult
  • Ambulatory Care
  • Clinical Trials as Topic
  • Clomipramine / therapeutic use
  • Double-Blind Method
  • Female
  • Fluoxetine / therapeutic use
  • Fluvoxamine
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Meta-Analysis as Topic
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / drug therapy*
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / physiopathology
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / psychology
  • Oximes / therapeutic use*
  • Placebos
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Serotonin / physiology
  • Serotonin Antagonists / therapeutic use*
  • Sertraline

Substances

  • Oximes
  • Placebos
  • Serotonin Antagonists
  • Fluoxetine
  • Serotonin
  • 1-Naphthylamine
  • Clomipramine
  • Fluvoxamine
  • Sertraline