Minocycline as an Adjunct for the Treatment of Depressive Symptoms: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Summary

In this double blind randomised controlled pilot trial the investigators aim to determine the efficacy of minocycline as an adjunct to treatment as usual in patients with major depressive disorder. The investigators hypothesize that the multiple neuroprotective effects of minocycline will lead to an improvement in depressive symptoms in participants that were given minocycline plus treatment as usual

Timeline

Start

2014-10

Primary completion

2016-06

Completion

2016-08

Outcome

Met primary endpoint

paper A large decrease in HAMD scores was observed in the minocycline group compared to the placebo group (standardised effect size (ES) -1.21, p < 0.001). PMID 28857658 ↗

Publications

• Background World Health Organization. The Global Burden of Disease. Geneva: WHO Press; 2012.
• Background Rush AJ, Trivedi MH, Wisniewski SR, Nierenberg AA, Stewart JW, Warden D, Niederehe G, Thase ME, Lavori PW, Lebowitz BD, McGrath PJ, Rosenbaum JF, Sackeim HA, Kupfer DJ, Luther J, Fava M. Acute and longer-term outcomes in depressed outpatients requiring one or several treatment steps: a STAR*D report. Am J Psychiatry. 2006 Nov;163(11):1905-17. doi: 10.1176/ajp.2006.163.11.1905.
• Background O'Donovan A, Rush G, Hoatam G, Hughes BM, McCrohan A, Kelleher C, O'Farrelly C, Malone KM. Suicidal ideation is associated with elevated inflammation in patients with major depressive disorder. Depress Anxiety. 2013 Apr;30(4):307-14. doi: 10.1002/da.22087. Epub 2013 Mar 15.
• Background Dantzer R, O'Connor JC, Freund GG, Johnson RW, Kelley KW. From inflammation to sickness and depression: when the immune system subjugates the brain. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2008 Jan;9(1):46-56. doi: 10.1038/nrn2297.
• Background Song C, Dinan T, Leonard BE. Changes in immunoglobulin, complement and acute phase protein levels in the depressed patients and normal controls. J Affect Disord. 1994 Apr;30(4):283-8. doi: 10.1016/0165-0327(94)90135-x.
• Background Mardini HE, Kip KE, Wilson JW. Crohn's disease: a two-year prospective study of the association between psychological distress and disease activity. Dig Dis Sci. 2004 Mar;49(3):492-7. doi: 10.1023/b:ddas.0000020509.23162.cc.
• Background Van Gool AR, Kruit WH, Engels FK, Stoter G, Bannink M, Eggermont AM. Neuropsychiatric side effects of interferon-alfa therapy. Pharm World Sci. 2003 Feb;25(1):11-20. doi: 10.1023/a:1022449613907.
• Background Capuron L, Miller AH. Immune system to brain signaling: neuropsychopharmacological implications. Pharmacol Ther. 2011 May;130(2):226-38. doi: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2011.01.014. Epub 2011 Feb 17.
• Background Muller N, Schwarz MJ, Dehning S, Douhe A, Cerovecki A, Goldstein-Muller B, Spellmann I, Hetzel G, Maino K, Kleindienst N, Moller HJ, Arolt V, Riedel M. The cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor celecoxib has therapeutic effects in major depression: results of a double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled, add-on pilot study to reboxetine. Mol Psychiatry. 2006 Jul;11(7):680-4. doi: 10.1038/sj.mp.4001805. Epub 2006 Feb 21.
• Background Krishnadas R, Cavanagh J. Depression: an inflammatory illness? J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2012 May;83(5):495-502. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2011-301779. Epub 2012 Mar 15.
• Background Warner-Schmidt JL, Vanover KE, Chen EY, Marshall JJ, Greengard P. Antidepressant effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are attenuated by antiinflammatory drugs in mice and humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 May 31;108(22):9262-7. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1104836108. Epub 2011 Apr 25.
• Background Soczynska JK, Mansur RB, Brietzke E, Swardfager W, Kennedy SH, Woldeyohannes HO, Powell AM, Manierka MS, McIntyre RS. Novel therapeutic targets in depression: minocycline as a candidate treatment. Behav Brain Res. 2012 Dec 1;235(2):302-17. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2012.07.026. Epub 2012 Aug 10.
• Background Chaudhry IB, Hallak J, Husain N, Minhas F, Stirling J, Richardson P, Dursun S, Dunn G, Deakin B. Minocycline benefits negative symptoms in early schizophrenia: a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial in patients on standard treatment. J Psychopharmacol. 2012 Sep;26(9):1185-93. doi: 10.1177/0269881112444941. Epub 2012 Apr 23.
• Background Miyaoka T, Furuya M, Yasuda H, Hayashida M, Nishida A, Inagaki T, Horiguchi J. Yi-gan san as adjunctive therapy for treatment-resistant schizophrenia: an open-label study. Clin Neuropharmacol. 2009 Jan-Feb;32(1):6-9. doi: 10.1097/WNF.0b013e31817e08c3.
• Zazula R, Husain MI, Mohebbi M, Walker AJ, Chaudhry IB, Khoso AB, Ashton MM, Agustini B, Husain N, Deakin J, Young AH, Berk M, Kanchanatawan B, Ng CH, Maes M, Berk L, Singh AB, Malhi GS, Dean OM. Minocycline as adjunctive treatment for major depressive disorder: Pooled data from two randomized controlled trials. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2021 Aug;55(8):784-798. doi: 10.1177/0004867420965697. Epub 2020 Oct 22.
• Husain MI, Chaudhry IB, Husain N, Khoso AB, Rahman RR, Hamirani MM, Hodsoll J, Qurashi I, Deakin JF, Young AH. Minocycline as an adjunct for treatment-resistant depressive symptoms: A pilot randomised placebo-controlled trial. J Psychopharmacol. 2017 Sep;31(9):1166-1175. doi: 10.1177/0269881117724352. Epub 2017 Aug 31.
• Husain MI, Chaudhry IB, Rahman RR, Hamirani MM, Qurashi I, Khoso AB, Deakin JF, Husain N, Young AH. Minocycline as an adjunct for treatment-resistant depressive symptoms: study protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial. Trials. 2015 Sep 15;16:410. doi: 10.1186/s13063-015-0933-5.

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