Urinary 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) excretion in depression.

Twelve acute depressed patients were studied in the course of antidepressant treatment. Three-day-24-hour urine samples for 3-methoxy-4-hydroxy-phenylglycol (MHPG) were collected both before and after a five week treatment schedule. MHPG were estimated by spectrophotometry. Initial MHPG excretion did not reflect the severity of pretreatment depression and final MHPG showed no specific correlation with post-treatment improvement. No specific or uniform influence of different anti-depressant treatments or changes in MHPG was evident. Depressed patients with bipolar affective disorder tend to have initially lower MHPG levels than patients with unipolar depression. Urinary MHPG excretion measurements may prove not to be a useful index in the diagnosis and choice of treatment in patients suffering from primary depression.