Depression, Epinephrine, and Platelet Function

July 15, 2015 updated by: Dominique Musselman, Emory University

Do Antidepressants Reverse the Effects of Early Life Stress on the Brain and Thrombovascular System and Improve Psychological, Neuroendocrine, and Platelet Function: A Study of Men and Women With Childhood Abuse.

Men and women who have suffered sexual and/or physical abuse before the age of 12 are at increased risk for anxiety and mood disorders, other serious psychiatric disorders, and likely medical illnesses. What is not known is whether adult survivors of childhood adversity experience heightened negative emotions and increased physical responses due to altered norepinephrine or serotonin systems in their brains and bodies. The investigators expect to see that survivors of childhood adversity experience heightened negative emotions and increased physical responses to stress.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

40

Phase

  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • Georgia
      • Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30322
        • Emory University School Of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 55 years (ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

-

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Individuals who are suicidal, psychotic, or with bipolar depression
  • alcohol or substance abuse or
  • regularly use medications which alter mood or blood vessel function (zolpidem or zalpelon, aspirin, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, sympatholytics, theophylline, central acting agonists, beta-blockers, coumadin, nitrates, triazolobenzodiazapines, or use steroids (testosterone-patch or pill form), use tryptophan or monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs),
  • have narrow-angle glaucoma, liver disease,
  • severe allergies (especially to antidepressants similar to escitalopram or desipramine)
  • seizures, or a serious medical disorder (e.g. hypothyroidism) that is unstable or is untreated.
  • Depressed patients with a prior history of severe adverse events associated with SSRIs or TCAs will not be accepted into the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: DOUBLE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Escitalopram
10 mg of Escitalopram, and titrated up to 20 mg of Escitalopram after day 22 of intervention
Other Names:
  • Lexapro
ACTIVE_COMPARATOR: Desipramine
25 mg of Desipramine for day 1-3, 50 mg of Desipramine for day 4-7, 75 mg of Desipramine for day 8-14, 100 mg of Desipramine for day 15-21. Titrated between 125 mg to 200 mg of Desipramine for day 22-56 of intervention
Other Names:
  • Norpramin

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Response of Participants, Defined by Change in the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) From Baseline to Week8
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 8

Number of subjects that showed no response, partial response, and response based on scores from baseline and week 8.

The 21-item HDRS measures depression severity. The scoring is sum the total of all 21 items to arrive at the total score, with a range of 0 to 60, where higher scores indicated greater severity. Nine items are scored on a 5-point scale, ranging from 0 = not present to 4 = severe. Eleven items are scored from 0 - 2 (0 = absent and 2 = severe). The last item is scored on a 4-point scale of 0-3 (0 = absent and 3 = severe). The HDRS at week 8 was compared to the baseline HDRS and each participant's response was calculated using the below table:

No Response = < 25% change in Depression Rating Scale Score Partial Responder = < 50% to >25% change in Depression Rating Scale Score Responder = 50% or greater change in Depression Rating Scale Score

Baseline, Week 8

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

February 1, 2002

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

January 1, 2009

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

January 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 13, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 13, 2005

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

September 14, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

July 23, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 15, 2015

Last Verified

July 1, 2015

More Information

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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