Abstract
Twenty-one depressed patients participated in a study that assessed the predictability of amitriptyline (AT) dosage based on plasma drug concentrations after a single dose. In 11 patients maintained on a fixed dose regimen, the 18-h single-dose level was confirmed to be predictive of steady-state levels. The dose for the next 10 patients was derived from their 18-h level aiming to attain steady-state levels of 200 ng/ml. The patients achieved a mean steady-state level of 213 ng/ml with 80% attaining therapeutic levels. All the patients improved within 2 weeks. These preliminary results suggest that dose prediction based on a single-dose TCA level is reliable and beneficial.
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Madakasira, S., Khazanie, P.G. & Sato, T.L. Single-dose single-point method in amitriptyline therapy. Psychopharmacology 84, 574–576 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00431471
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00431471