168 A meta-analysis of numerous antidepressant buy BIIB057 studies similarly found women have a. better response to MAOIs than do men.165 In contrast, however, a. clinical trial comparing the efficacy of imipramine versus phenelzine in the treatment of 100 depressed patients found significantly more men than women responded to phenelzine treatment.153 The literature on the possible effects of sex on the Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical treatment of bipolar disorder is not as extensive as that seen

for treatment of depression. Sex is not. a. valid predictor of response to lithium treatment of bipolar disorder,169 and a retrospective study of 1548 bipolar patients treated with lithium found no sex difference in treatment response rate.170 Another study of 360 bipolar patients reported a nonsignificant, superior response in women despite lower mean plasma levels of lithium.171 Data, then, while exiguous, do not suggest, a meaningful difference in pharmacodynamic Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical response to bipolar

pharmacotherapy in men and women. Neuroleptics Underlying sex differences in the age of onset, course, and symptomatology of schizophrenia present difficulties when studying potential sex differences in treatment response to Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical neuroleptic medications. Nonetheless, many studies have examined sex differences in treatment, response to neuroleptics. After initial observational studies noted that, females responded better to neuroleptic treatment,172 clinical trials of neuroleptic efficacy were conducted, and most confirmed that females respond better to neuroleptic treatment than do males,173-181 despite comparable drug plasma levels.182 However, many of these studies were compromised by their failure to sufficiently control for sex differences in smoking, dose, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical weight, and severity and type of symptomatology. Several more recent studies found no sex differences in treatment response to neuroleptic Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical medication,183-186 and two studies of neuroleptic-refractory patients showed a trend for males to respond better to clozapine treatment than

females187,188 (although results from studies of neuroleptic-refractory patients might, not be generalizable).The inconsistency in results regarding sex differences in treatment response to antipsychotic medication may be due to differences in choice of neuroleptic and dose. For example, in a. study of 50 schizophrenic patients, females isothipendyl responded significantly better to clozapine treatment at 100 mg/day,but there were no sex differences in response among schizophrenic subjects randomly assigned daily doses of 300 or 600 mg/day.189 Some studies claim that female schizophrenic patients require lower doses of neuroleptics (after accounting for weight differences) than male schizophrenic patients,190,191 while other studies find no significant, sex difference in neuroleptic dose requirements.192-194 This contradiction could reflect differences in neuroleptics used.