NCT01557946

Glutamatergic and GABAergic Mediators of Antidepressant Response in Major Depression

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 4
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 32 (actual)
• Sponsor: Mclean Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Primarily, this study seeks to evaluate whether citalopram treatment is associated with an increase in the Glutamine (Gln)/Glutamate (Glu) ratio in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) from baseline to day 3 of treatment. Additionally, this study would like to examine whether citalopram treatment is associated with an increase in the Gln/Glu ratio in the ACC from baseline to day 7 of treatment. In order to more fully examine baseline neurochemical and functional abnormalities in participants with MDD, we also seek to scan a group of age- and sex-matched non-depressed comparison individuals in order to perform between-group analyses of baseline neuroimaging measures.

Detailed description

Little is known about the acute effects of standard antidepressant treatments on brain glutamate and gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) levels, and their association with clinical response. In the current study, we used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) to examine longitudinally the effects of citalopram on the glutamine/glutamate ratio and GABA levels in the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC) - a region that has been repeatedly implicated in antidepressant response - of individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). We acquired 1H-MRS scans at baseline and at days 3, 7, and 42 of citalopram treatment in nineteen unmedicated individuals with MDD. Ten age- and sex-matched non-depressed comparison individuals were scanned once and did not receive citalopram. The association between baseline metabolites and the change in metabolites from baseline to each time point and change in Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score from baseline to day 42 was assessed by longitudinal regression analysis, adjusting for age, sex, and baseline MADRS, using generalized estimating equations.

Conditions

• MDD
• Citalopram
• Major Depressive Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DRUG	citalopram	citalopram 20-40 mg daily

Timeline

• Start date: 2012-03-01
• Primary completion: 2015-09-01
• Completion: 2015-09-01
• First posted: 2012-03-20
• Last updated: 2017-09-12
• Results posted: 2017-09-12

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States