St. John's Wort (Hypericum Perforatum) as a Treatment for Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder: Case Report

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), a menstruous dysfunction, is characterized by profoundly depressed mood, and studies have shown that antidepressants are effective for PMDD. The authors describe a case of PMDD who was initially treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Due to intolerable gastrointestinal side effects with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, St. John's wort (900 mg/day) was substituted and much improvement in PMDD symptoms was noted for at least five-month follow-up. The authors propose that St. John's wort could be an alternative medication for PMDD, especially for patients experiencing intolerable side effects with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

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Quetiapine Augmentation of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors in Treatment-Resistant Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Six-Month Follow-Up Case Series

CNS Spectrums ◽

10.1017/s1092852900015029 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 879-883 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Bernardo Dell'Osso ◽

Emanuela Mundo ◽

A. Carlo Altamura

Keyword(s):

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽

Serotonin Reuptake ◽

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors ◽

Case Series ◽

Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors ◽

Selective Serotonin ◽

Treatment Resistant ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Compulsive Disorder

ABSTRACTObsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a relatively common, often chronic and disabling disorder with high rates of partial and/or absent response to standard, recommended treatments, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and psychotherapy. This article presents the cases of four patients suffering from OCD and comorbid mood or anxiety disorders, who were treated with SSRIs at adequate doses for at least 12 weeks, showing a partial response. Quetiapine treatment was added to SSRIs at a dose of 25 mg/day and titrated up to 200 mg/day. Patients were followed up for 6 months. After 12 weeks, all the patients were classified as “much improved” on the Clinical Global Impression–Improvement scale and showed a Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale score reduction ≥35%. After 6 months of follow-up, all the patients maintained the same level of improvement. Although quetiapine augmentation to SSRIs has shown mixed results in published controlled trials in the acute treatment (12 weeks) of patients with treatment-resistant OCD, this case series indicates that patients who benefit from this pharmacologic regimen in the acute phase tend to maintain such an improvement. Larger follow-up studies are warranted to confirm our findings.

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Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and Treatment of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder

Perspectives In Psychiatric Care ◽

10.1111/j.1744-6163.2002.tb00657.x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 50-60 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Deborah L. Finfgeld

Keyword(s):

Serotonin Reuptake ◽

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors ◽

Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder ◽

Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors ◽

Selective Serotonin

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Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ameliorate MEGF10 myopathy

Human Molecular Genetics ◽

10.1093/hmg/ddz064 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (14) ◽

pp. 2365-2377 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Madhurima Saha ◽

Skylar A Rizzo ◽

Manashwi Ramanathan ◽

Rylie M Hightower ◽

Katherine E Santostefano ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Serotonin Reuptake ◽

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors ◽

Cellular Proliferation ◽

Notch Pathway ◽

Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors ◽

Muscle Disease ◽

Selective Serotonin ◽

Causative Gene ◽

Novel Therapy

Abstract MEGF10 myopathy is a rare inherited muscle disease that is named after the causative gene, MEGF10. The classic phenotype, early onset myopathy, areflexia, respiratory distress and dysphagia, is severe and immediately life-threatening. There are no disease-modifying therapies. We performed a small molecule screen and follow-up studies to seek a novel therapy. A primary in vitro drug screen assessed cellular proliferation patterns in Megf10-deficient myoblasts. Secondary evaluations were performed on primary screen hits using myoblasts derived from Megf10−/− mice, induced pluripotent stem cell-derived myoblasts from MEGF10 myopathy patients, mutant Drosophila that are deficient in the homologue of MEGF10 (Drpr) and megf10 mutant zebrafish. The screen yielded two promising candidates that are both selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), sertraline and escitalopram. In depth follow-up analyses demonstrated that sertraline was highly effective in alleviating abnormalities across multiple models of the disease including mouse myoblast, human myoblast, Drosophila and zebrafish models. Sertraline also restored deficiencies of Notch1 in disease models. We conclude that SSRIs show promise as potential therapeutic compounds for MEGF10 myopathy, especially sertraline. The mechanism of action may involve the Notch pathway.

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