Evaluating the Efficacy of Adjunctive Minocycline for the Treatment of Bipolar Depression

Summary

Long-term studies have emphasized that depressive symptoms and episodes account for majority of the illness burden experienced by individuals with bipolar disorder (BD). Previous studies have shown that blood levels of proteins called pro-inflammatory cytokines are abnormal in individuals with bipolar depression. The investigators hypothesize that preventing the production or release of pro-inflammatory cytokines will result in improvement of depressive symptoms in individuals with bipolar depression. Minocycline is a medication that inhibits the activation of immune cells (i.e. microglia) in the brain and reduces the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Treatment with minocycline has been shown to have antidepressant-like effects in animal studies and improve symptoms of individuals with schizophrenia. In this study, minocycline (100 mg twice a day) will be administered for 8 weeks to determine if it is an efficacious antidepressant for individuals with bipolar depression.

Timeline

Start

2011-07

Primary completion

2014-02

Completion

2014-12

Publications

• Background Levkovitz Y, Mendlovich S, Riwkes S, Braw Y, Levkovitch-Verbin H, Gal G, Fennig S, Treves I, Kron S. A double-blind, randomized study of minocycline for the treatment of negative and cognitive symptoms in early-phase schizophrenia. J Clin Psychiatry. 2010 Feb;71(2):138-49. doi: 10.4088/JCP.08m04666yel. Epub 2009 Nov 3.
• Background Molina-Hernandez M, Tellez-Alcantara NP, Perez-Garcia J, Olivera-Lopez JI, Jaramillo-Jaimes MT. Antidepressant-like actions of minocycline combined with several glutamate antagonists. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Feb 15;32(2):380-6. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2007.09.004. Epub 2007 Sep 14.

Drugs

Indications