www.karger.com/nps Key Words

Treatment response Unlike other antidepressants, mirtazapine does not in-hibit the reuptake of norepinephrine or serotonin but acts as an antagonist at presynaptic ·2-receptors, at post-synaptic 5-HT2 and 5-HT3 receptors, and at histaminer-gic H1 receptors. Furthermore, mirtazapine has been shown to acutely inhibit cortisol secretion in healthy sub-jects. In the present study, the impact of mirtazapine treatment on salivary cortisol secretion was investigated in 12 patients (4 men, 8 women) suffering from major depression according to DSM-IV criteria. Patients were treated with mirtazapine for 3 weeks, receiving 15 mg mirtazapine on day 0, 30 mg on day 1 and 45 mg per day from day 2 up to the end of the study (day 21). Respons