scholarly journals The Neurostimulation of the Brain in Depression Trial: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Treatment-Resistant Depression (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raheem Suleman ◽  
Benjamin V Tucker ◽  
Serdar M Dursun ◽  
Michael L Demas

BACKGROUND Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the second highest cause of disability worldwide. Standard treatments for MDD include medicine and talk therapy; however, approximately 1 in 5 Canadians fail to respond to these approaches and must consider alternatives. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a safe, noninvasive method that uses electrical stimulation to change the activation pattern of different brain regions. By targeting those regions known to be affected in MDD, tDCS may be useful in ameliorating treatment-resistant depression. OBJECTIVE The objective of the Neurostimulation of the Brain in Depression trial is to compare the effectiveness of active versus sham tDCS in treating patients with ultraresistant MDD. The primary outcome will be the improvement in depressive symptoms, as measured by the change on the Mongtomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale. Secondary outcomes will include changes in the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Scale (subjective assessment), the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (functional assessment), and the Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry (cognitive assessment). Adverse events will be captured using the Young Mania Rating Scale; tDCS Adverse Events Questionnaire; Frequency, Intensity, and Burden of Side Effects Rating Scale; and Patient-Rated Inventory of Side Effects Scale. A parallel component of the study will involve assaying for baseline language function and the effect of treatment on language using an exploratory acoustic and semantic corpus analysis on recorded interviews. Participant accuracy and response latency on an auditory lexical decision task will also be evaluated. METHODS We will recruit inpatients and outpatients in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, and will deliver the study interventions at the Grey Nuns and University of Alberta Hospitals. Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants before enrollment. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned, in a double-blinded fashion, to receive active or sham tDCS, and they will continue receiving their usual pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy throughout the trial. In both groups, participants will receive 30 weekday stimulation sessions, each session being 30 minutes in length, with the anode over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the cathode over the right. Participants in the active group will be stimulated at 2 mA throughout, whereas the sham group will receive only a brief period of stimulation to mimic skin sensations felt in the active group. Measurements will be conducted at regular points throughout the trial and 30 days after trial completion. RESULTS The trial has been approved by the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board and is scheduled to commence in June 2021. The target sample size is 60 participants. CONCLUSIONS This is a protocol for a multicenter, double-blinded, randomized controlled superiority trial comparing active versus sham tDCS in patients with treatment-resistant MDD. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04159012; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04159012. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT PRR1-10.2196/22805

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor J. Cole ◽  
Katy H. Stimpson ◽  
Brandon S. Bentzley ◽  
Merve Gulser ◽  
Kirsten Cherian ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundCurrent treatments for depression are limited by suboptimal efficacy, delayed response, and frequent side effects. Intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation treatment that is FDA-approved for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Recent methodological advancements suggest iTBS could be improved through 1) treating with multiple sessions per day at optimally-spaced intervals, 2) applying a higher overall pulse-dose of stimulation and 3) precision targeting of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC) to subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) circuit. We examined the feasibility, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of an accelerated, high-dose, resting-state functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI)-guided iTBS protocol for TRD termed ‘Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT)’.MethodsTwenty-one participants with TRD received open-label SAINT. FcMRI was used to individually target the region of L-DLPFC most anticorrelated with sgACC. Fifty iTBS sessions (1800 pulses per session, 50-minute inter-session interval) were delivered as 10 daily sessions over 5 consecutive days at 90% resting motor threshold (adjusted for cortical depth). Neuropsychological testing was conducted before and after SAINT.ResultsNineteen of 21 participants (90.48%) met criteria for remission (≤10 on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale) immediately after SAINT. Neuropsychological testing demonstrated no negative cognitive side-effects. There were no seizures or other severe adverse events.DiscussionOur accelerated, high-dose, iTBS protocol with fcMRI-guided targeting (SAINT) was well tolerated and safe. Efficacy was strikingly high, especially for this treatment-resistant population. Double-blinded sham-controlled trials are required to confirm the high remission rate found in this initial study.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03240692


Author(s):  
Robyn R. Jones ◽  
Marlene P. Freeman ◽  
Susan G. Kornstein ◽  
Kimberly Cooper ◽  
Ella J. Daly ◽  
...  

AbstractThe objective of this analysis was to determine if there are sex differences with esketamine for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Post hoc analyses of three randomized, controlled studies of esketamine in patients with TRD (TRANSFORM-1, TRANSFORM-2 [18–64 years], TRANSFORM-3 [≥ 65 years]) were performed. In each 4-week study, adults with TRD were randomized to esketamine or placebo nasal spray, each with a newly initiated oral antidepressant. Change from baseline to day 28 in Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) total score was assessed by sex in pooled data from TRANSFORM-1/TRANSFORM-2 and separately in data from TRANSFORM-3 using a mixed-effects model for repeated measures. Use of hormonal therapy was assessed in all women, and menopausal status was assessed in women in TRANSFORM-1/TRANSFORM-2. Altogether, 702 adults (464 women) received ≥ 1 dose of intranasal study drug and antidepressant. Mean MADRS total score (SD) decreased from baseline to day 28, more so among patients treated with esketamine/antidepressant vs. antidepressant/placebo in both women and men: TRANSFORM-1/TRANSFORM-2 women—esketamine/antidepressant -20.3 (13.19) vs. antidepressant/placebo -15.8 (14.67), men—esketamine/antidepressant -18.3 (14.08) vs. antidepressant/placebo -16.0 (14.30); TRANSFORM-3 women—esketamine/antidepressant -9.9 (13.34) vs. antidepressant/placebo -6.9 (9.65), men—esketamine/antidepressant -10.3 (11.96) vs. antidepressant/placebo -5.5 (7.64). There was no significant sex effect or treatment-by-sex interaction (p > 0.35). The most common adverse events in esketamine-treated patients were nausea, dissociation, dizziness, and vertigo, each reported at a rate higher in women than men. The analyses support antidepressant efficacy and overall safety of esketamine nasal spray are similar between women and men with TRD. The TRANSFORM studies are registered at clinicaltrials.gov (identifiers: NCT02417064 (first posted 15 April 2015; last updated 4 May 2020), NCT02418585 (first posted 16 April 2015; last updated 2 June 2020), and NCT02422186 (first posted 21 April 2015; last updated 29 September 2021)).


2020 ◽  
Vol 263 ◽  
pp. 568-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elia E. Acevedo-Diaz ◽  
Grace W. Cavanaugh ◽  
Dede Greenstein ◽  
Christoph Kraus ◽  
Bashkim Kadriu ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Arthur Twohig ◽  
Vaughn Huckfeldt

A lack of effective treatment for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) has led to the evaluation of ketamine, an N-methyl- D-aspartate receptor antagonist. Despite the demonstrated short-term benefits of using intravenous (IV) ketamine, side effects and the difficulty in administering ketamine outside the health-care setting has raised interest in alternative dosage forms. Research articles evaluating oral or intranasal (IN) ketamine were retrieved from the PubMed database. Patients who received oral or IN ketamine experienced a similar reduction in depressive symptoms within 24 hours of treatment and fewer side effects compared to patients who received IV ketamine. Novel administration forms of ketamine provide an opportunity for patients with TRD to achieve remission with fewer adverse side effects. Future studies should continue to evaluate these administration strategies in the hope of promoting ketamine’s use outside health-care settings and for longer time periods.


Author(s):  
Bernardo Soares ◽  
Gabriela Kanevsky ◽  
Chei Tung Teng ◽  
Rodrigo Pérez-Esparza ◽  
Gerardo Garcia Bonetto ◽  
...  

AbstractApproximately one-third of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) have treatment-resistant depression (TRD). The TRAL study will evaluate the prevalence and impact of TRD among patients with MDD in four Latin American countries. In this multicenter, prospective, observational study, patients with MDD were recruited from 33 reference sites in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina. Patients were assessed for TRD, defined as failure to respond to ≥ 2 antidepressant medications of adequate dose and duration. Demographics, previous/current treatments, depressive symptoms, functioning, healthcare resource utilization, and work impairment were also collected and evaluated using descriptive statistics, chi-square test, Fisher exact test, t-test for independent samples, or the Mann–Whitney nonparametric test, as appropriate. 1475 patients with MDD were included in the analysis (mean age, 45.6 years; 78% women); 89% were receiving relevant psychiatric treatment. 429 patients met criteria for TRD, and a numerically higher proportion of patients with TRD was present in public versus private sites of care (31% vs 27%). The mean Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale score was 25.0 among all MDD patients and was significantly higher for patients with TRD versus non-TRD (29.4 vs 23.3; P < 0.0001). Patients with TRD, versus those with non-TRD, were significantly more likely to be older, have a longer disease duration, have more comorbidities, be symptomatic, have a higher median number of psychiatric consultations, and report greater work impairment. Patients with TRD have a disproportionate burden of disease compared to those with non-TRD. Appropriate treatment for TRD is a substantial unmet need in Latin America. https://www.ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03207282, 07/02/2017.


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