Clinical factors associated with augmentation treatment with second-generation antipsychotics and lithium in major depression - Results from a European multicenter study

The clinical perspective on late-onset depression in European real-world treatment settings

The clinical phenotype of the so-called late-onset depression (LOD) affecting up to 30% of older adults and yielding heterogeneous manifestations concerning symptoms, severity and course has not been fully elucidated yet. This European, cross-sectional, non-interventional, naturalistic multicenter study systematically investigated socio-demographic and clinical correlates of early-onset depression (EOD) and LOD (age of onset ≥ 50 years) in 1410 adult in- and outpatients of both sexes receiving adequate psychopharmacotherapy. In a total of 1329 patients (94.3%) with known age of disease onset, LOD was identified in 23.2% and was associated with unemployment, an ongoing relationship, single major depressive episodes, lower current suicidal risk and higher occurrence of comorbid hypertension. In contrast, EOD was related to higher rates of comorbid migraine and additional psychotherapy. Although the applied study design does not allow to draw any causal conclusions, the present results reflect broad clinical settings and emphasize easily obtainable features which might be characteristic for EOD and LOD. A thoughtful consideration of age of onset might, hence, contribute to optimized diagnostic and therapeutic processes in terms of the globally intended precision medicine, ideally enabling early and adequate treatment allocations and implementation of respective prevention programs.

New Advances in the Pharmacology and Toxicology of Lithium: A Neurobiologically Oriented Overview

Over the last six decades, lithium has been considered the gold standard treatment for the long-term management of bipolar disorder due to its efficacy in preventing both manic and depressive episodes as well as suicidal behaviors. Nevertheless, despite numerous observed effects on various cellular pathways and biologic systems, the precise mechanism through which lithium stabilizes mood remains elusive. Furthermore, there is recent support for the therapeutic potential of lithium in other brain diseases. This review offers a comprehensive examination of contemporary understanding and predominant theories concerning the diverse mechanisms underlying lithium's effects. These findings are based on investigations utilizing cellular and animal models of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. Recent studies have provided additional support for the significance of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) inhibition as a crucial mechanism. Furthermore, research has shed more light on the interconnections between GSK3-mediated neuroprotective, antioxidant, and neuroplasticity processes. Moreover, recent advancements in animal and human models have provided valuable insights into how lithium-induced modifications at the homeostatic synaptic plasticity level may play a pivotal role in its clinical effectiveness. We focused on findings from translational studies suggesting that lithium may interface with microRNA expression. Finally, we are exploring the repurposing potential of lithium beyond bipolar disorder. These recent findings on the therapeutic mechanisms of lithium have provided important clues toward developing predictive models of response to lithium treatment and identifying new biologic targets. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Lithium is the drug of choice for the treatment of bipolar disorder, but its mechanism of action in stabilizing mood remains elusive. This review presents the latest evidence on lithium's various mechanisms of action. Recent evidence has strengthened glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) inhibition, changes at the level of homeostatic synaptic plasticity, and regulation of microRNA expression as key mechanisms, providing an intriguing perspective that may help bridge the mechanistic gap between molecular functions and its clinical efficacy as a mood stabilizer.

Psychiatric and legal considerations for ketamine treatment within prison settings

The fundamental right to equivalence of health care in prison settings encompasses the provision of medication to address mental health conditions. Considering the increased risk for self-harm among individuals dealing with depression, the limited effectiveness of conservative antidepressants is a major challenge in psychiatry. The high prevalence of suicidal tendencies within prison populations underscores the imperative for state-of-the-art pharmacological treatment to uphold adequate health care standards. Notably, the denial of access to effective medication could be deemed a violation of human rights of people living in prison according to international treaties, domestic law, and United Nations normative standards of detention. This article presents the authors' perspective on the accessibility of ketamine treatment in prison settings, discussing psychiatric and legal considerations as well as current challenges in this context. Implementing novel psychopharmacological interventions may alleviate the distress experienced by individuals struggling with depressive symptoms and suicidality. At the same time, unprecedented treatment alternatives bring along potential issues, including limited understanding of long-term effects and the risk of abuse. Given the scarce data-availability, a pressing need exists for further research on the benefits and risks of ketamine treatment within prison populations.

Characterisation of medication side effects in patients with mostly resistant depression in a real-world setting

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to identify factors associated with side effects of psychotropic drugs in a real-world setting enriched with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) patients.

METHODS

A total of 1410 depressed patients were treated in a naturalistic setting. Side effects were measured with the Udvalg for Kliniske Undersogelser Side Effect Rating Scale (UKU); the total score and UKU subscales were considered. Clinical-demographic variables were tested for association with side effects in univariate and then multivariate analyses.

RESULTS

Total, psychic and neurological side effects were associated with depressive symptom severity, while autonomic side effects were higher in those with somatic comorbidities and other side effects were lower in patients receiving trazodone. In multivariate analyses, depressive symptom severity was associated with psychic and total side effects, while generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) with neurological side effects and somatic comorbidities remained associated with autonomic side effects. Trazodone was associated with lower side effects and with augmentation treatments. Augmentation therapies showed opposite effects depending on response status, i.e. increased or decreased the risk of side effects in responders and non-responders/resistant patients, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Psychic side effects may be difficult to distinguish from depressive symptoms and factors associated with different types of side effects are heterogeneous and likely interacting.

Evidence on sociodemographic and clinical correlates of antidepressant combination or augmentation with second-generation antipsychotics in major depressive disorder

About two thirds of the patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) do not sufficiently respond to monotherapy with antidepressants (ADs) which makes them reliant on further treatment approaches. Hereby, combination of different ADs and augmentation with second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are widely used and recommended psychopharmacotherapeutic strategies. The present secondary analyses are based on an international, naturalistic, cross-sectional multicenter study conducted by the European Group for the Study of Resistant Depression. Comparing socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of 436 adult MDD patients receiving either SGAs (N = 191, 43.8%) or ADs (N = 245, 56.2%), that were additionally administered to their first-line AD psychopharmacotherapy, we aimed to identify possible trajectories of decision-making for clinicians regarding which treatment option to prefer in individual patients. Our most robust findings represent an association of SGA augmentation with the presence of psychotic symptoms, longer mean duration of lifetime psychiatric hospitalizations, employment of further augmentation strategies with mood-stabilizers and benzodiazepines, and a trend towards higher mean daily dosages of their first-line ADs and current suicidal risk. Treatment outcome was not significantly different between patients receiving either SGA augmentation or AD combination. Being aware of limitations inherent to the cross-sectional study design and the lack of randomization, more severe and rather chronic conditions in MDD seemed to encourage clinicians to choose SGA augmentation over AD combination. The fact that mood-stabilizers and/or benzodiazepines were more frequently co-administered with SGAs may represent a requirement of an overall refined psychopharmacotherapy including additional fast-acting agents with potent AD, tranquilizing and anti-suicidal effects in MDD patients experiencing challenging clinical manifestations. New glutamatergic substances seem to be promising in this regard.

The Choice of Either Quetiapine or Aripiprazole as Augmentation Treatment in a European Naturalistic Sample of Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

BACKGROUND

Augmentation with second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) represents an evidence-based psychopharmacotherapeutic strategy recommended in case of insufficient response to the first-line antidepressant (AD) treatment in major depressive disorder (MDD). Comparative evidence regarding efficacy and prescription preferences of the individual SGAs is scarce.

METHODS

In the scope of this European, multi-site, naturalistic cross-sectional investigation with retrospective assessment of treatment outcome, we compared sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of 187 MDD patients receiving either quetiapine (n = 150) or aripiprazole (n = 37) as augmentation of their first-line AD psychopharmacotherapy.

RESULTS

Comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and diabetes were significantly associated with aripiprazole augmentation in our primary and post-hoc binary logistic regression analyses. Furthermore, we identified an association between aripiprazole co-administration and the presence of additional psychotic features, higher rates of AD combination treatment, and a longer duration of psychiatric hospitalizations during the lifetime, which, however, lost significance after correcting for multiple comparisons. Regarding treatment outcome, we found a trend of higher response rates and greater reductions in severity of depressive symptoms in MDD patients dispensed quetiapine.

CONCLUSIONS

Factors associated with a more chronic and severe profile of MDD seem to encourage clinicians to choose aripiprazole over quetiapine, that was, however, administered in the majority of our MDD patients, which might reflect the current approval situation allowing to prescribe exclusively quetiapine as on-label augmentation in MDD in Europe. Given the retrospective assessment of treatment response, the markedly smaller proportion of patients receiving aripiprazole augmentation generally showing an unfavorable disease profile, and the partially heterogeneous statistical robustness of our findings, further studies are required to elaborate on our observation and to generate unambiguous recommendations regarding the choice of first-line SGA augmentation in MDD.

Sex-related effects in major depressive disorder: Results of the European Group for the Study of Resistant Depression

BACKGROUND

Sex-related effects on the evolution and phenotype of major depressive disorder (MDD) were reported previously.

METHODS

This European multicenter cross-sectional study compared sociodemographic, clinical, and treatment patterns between males and females in a real-world sample of 1410 in- and outpatients with current MDD.

RESULTS

Male MDD patients (33.1%) were rather inpatients, suffered from moderate to high suicidality levels, received noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressants (ADs) as first-line AD treatment, generally higher mean AD daily doses, and showed a trend towards a more frequent administration of add-on treatments. Female MDD patients (66.9%) were rather outpatients, experienced lower suicidality levels, comorbid thyroid dysfunction, migraine, asthma, and a trend towards earlier disease onset.

CONCLUSIONS

The identified divergencies may contribute to the concept of male and female depressive syndromes and serve as predictors of disease severity and course, as they reflect phenomena that were repeatedly related to treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Especially the greater necessity of inpatient treatment and more complex psychopharmacotherapy in men may reflect increased therapeutic efforts undertaken to treat suicidality and to avoid TRD. Hence, considering sex may guide the diagnostic and treatment processes towards targeting challenging clinical manifestations including comorbidities and suicidality, and prevention of TRD and chronicity.

Combining psychopharmacotherapy and psychotherapy is not associated with better treatment outcome in major depressive disorder - evidence from the European Group for the Study of Resistant Depression

Despite plenty of effective antidepressant (AD) treatments, the outcome of major depressive disorder (MDD) is often unsatisfactory, probably due to improvable exploitation of available therapies. This European, cross-sectional, naturalistic multicenter study investigated the frequency of additional psychotherapy in terms of a manual-driven psychotherapy (MDP) in 1410 adult in- and outpatients with MDD, who were primarily treated with AD psychopharmacotherapy. Socio-demographic and clinical patterns were compared between patients receiving both treatments and those lacking concomitant MDP. In a total of 1279 MDD patients (90.7%) with known status of additional MDP, those undergoing a psychopharmacotherapy-MDP combination (31.2%) were younger, higher educated, more often employed and less severely ill with lower odds for suicidality as compared to patients receiving exclusively psychopharmacotherapy (68.8%). They experienced an earlier mean age of MDD onset, melancholic features, comorbid asthma and migraine and received lower daily doses of their first-line ADs. While agomelatine was more often established in these patients, MDD patients without MDP received selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors more frequently. These two patient groups did not differ in terms of response, non-response and treatment resistant depression (TRD). Accordingly, the employment of additional MDP could not be related to better treatment outcomes in MDD. The fact that MDP was applied in a minority of patients with rather beneficial socio-demographic and clinical characteristics might reflect inferior accessibility of these psychotherapeutic techniques for socially and economically disadvantaged populations.

Melancholic features in major depression - a European multicenter study

There is still a debate, if melancholic symptoms can be seen rather as a more severe subtype of major depressive disorder (MDD) or as a separate diagnostic entity. The present European multicenter study comprising altogether 1410 MDD in- and outpatients sought to investigate the influence of the presence of melancholic features in MDD patients. Analyses of covariance, chi-squared tests, and binary logistic regression analyses were accomplished to determine differences in socio-demographic and clinical variables between MDD patients with and without melancholia. We found a prevalence rate of 60.71% for melancholic features in MDD. Compared to non-melancholic MDD patients, they were characterized by a significantly higher likelihood for higher weight, unemployment, psychotic features, suicide risk, inpatient treatment, severe depressive symptoms, receiving add-on medication strategies in general, and adjunctive treatment with antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepine (BZD)/BZD-like drugs, low-potency antipsychotics, and pregabalin in particular. With regard to the antidepressant pharmacotherapy, we found a less frequent prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in melancholic MDD. No significant between-group differences were found for treatment response, non-response, and resistance. In summary, we explored primarily variables to be associated with melancholia which can be regarded as parameters for the presence of severe/difficult-to treat MDD conditions. Even if there is no evidence to realize any specific treatment strategy in melancholic MDD patients, their prescribed medication strategies were different from those for patients without melancholia.

Case Report: Bupropion Reduces the [123I]FP-CIT Binding to Striatal Dopamine Transporter

The diagnosis of parkinsonian syndromes in patients with severe depression may be challenging due to overlapping clinical phenomena, especially regarding psychomotor and affective symptoms. [¹²³I]FP-CIT-SPECT is a useful method to detect degenerative parkinsonian disorders. However, some drugs may influence the tracer binding and thus alter the result. We present a case of 56-year-old female inpatient with difficult-to-treat late-onset depression. Since the current major depressive episode (MDE) was accompanied by psychotic features including delusions and hallucinations as well as hypokinesia, stooped posture and hypomimia, underlying degenerative parkinsonism was suspected. The pathologic [¹²³I]FP-CIT-SPECT scan under ongoing antidepressant therapy with bupropion 300 mg/die (serum level of bupropion 43 ng/ml and hydroxybupropion 2,332 ng/ml) showed reduced [¹²³I]FP-CIT binding throughout the striatum. The scan normalized upon a wash-out phase of four half-time periods (serum level of bupropion was 0.4 ng/ml and for hydroxybupropion 80.5 ng/ml). Our report should serve as a cautionary note for use of [¹²³I]FP-CIT in depressed patients, particularly in those treated with drugs interfering with the dopamine transporter. Furthermore, our case argues for a need of consultation of a movement disorder specialist prior to dopamine transporter imaging.

Add-on benzodiazepine treatment in patients with major depressive disorder - results from a European cross-sectional multicenter study

Since many patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) do not satisfactorily respond to initial antidepressant monotherapy, add-on treatment strategies with other psychiatric compounds are often established. The present European multicenter cross-sectional study comprising 1410 MDD in- and outpatients investigated the prescription pattern of benzodiazepines as add-on treatment in the psychopharmacotherapy of MDD. Analyses of variance, chi-squared tests, and logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine differences in socio-demographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics between benzodiazepine users and non-users. The prescription rate for adjunctive benzodiazepine treatment amounted to 31.35%. The most often administered benzodiazepines were lorazepam (11.13%), clonazepam (6.74%), and alprazolam (6.60%). Benzodiazepine users exhibited more severe depressive symptoms expressed by a higher mean Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale total score at study entry (26.92 ± 11.07 vs 23.55 ± 11.23, p<.0001) and at the beginning of the current major depressive episode (35.74 ± 8.08 vs 33.31 ± 7.40, p<.0001). Furthermore, they were characterized by a higher proportion of patients receiving additional augmentation/combination medications with antidepressants (40.95% vs 24.28%, p<.0001), antipsychotics (41.63% vs 18.39%, p<.0001), and low-potency antipsychotics (10.18% vs 4.75%, p<.0001). Moreover, benzodiazepine prescription was associated with older age, unemployment, inpatient treatment, suicide risk, psychotic and melancholic features, comorbid panic disorder, agoraphobia, social phobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Taken together, our findings indicate that benzodiazepine augmentation in MDD is first of all established in severe/difficult-to-treat conditions and serves as predictor for the use of additional augmentation/combination treatment strategies.

Treatment Response of Add-On Esketamine Nasal Spray in Resistant Major Depression in Relation to Add-On Second-Generation Antipsychotic Treatment

In this meta-analysis, we aimed to estimate and compare the efficacy of add-on treatment of antidepressants with esketamine nasal spray and second-generation antipsychotics in patients with nonpsychotic major depressive disorder and inadequate response to antidepressants. Searching for acute-phase, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trials, we found 22 second-generation antipsychotic (n = 8363) and 3 intranasal esketamine (n = 641) studies. Mean change in the Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale total score served as outcome. We determined a higher mean difference (vs placebo) for the pooled esketamine nasal spray trials (mean difference = 4.09, 95% confidence interval: 2.01 to 6.17) than for the pooled second-generation antipsychotic augmentation trials (mean difference  = 2.05, 95% confidence interval: 1.51 to 2.59). Thus, the effect size for intranasal esketamine was nearly twice as high as those for the second-generation antipsychotics. This indicates high efficacy of add-on esketamine nasal spray in treatment-resistant major depressive disorder compared with other well-established, evidence-based pharmacological options such as augmentation with second-generation antipsychotics.

Results of the European Group for the Study of Resistant Depression (GSRD) - basis for further research and clinical practice

Objectives: The overview outlines two decades of research from the European Group for the Study of Resistant Depression (GSRD) that fundamentally impacted evidence-based algorithms for diagnostics and psychopharmacotherapy of treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Methods: The GSRD staging model characterising response, non-response and resistance to antidepressant (AD) treatment was applied to 2762 patients in eight European countries. Results: In case of non-response, dose escalation and switching between different AD classes did not show superiority over continuation of original AD treatment. Predictors for TRD were symptom severity, duration of the current major depressive episode (MDE), suicidality, psychotic and melancholic features, comorbid anxiety and personality disorders, add-on treatment, non-response to the first AD, adverse effects, high occupational level, recurrent disease course, previous hospitalisations, positive family history of MDD, early age of onset and novel associations of single nucleoid polymorphisms (SNPs) within the PPP3CC, ST8SIA2, CHL1, GAP43 and ITGB3 genes and gene pathways associated with neuroplasticity, intracellular signalling and chromatin silencing. A prediction model reaching accuracy of above 0.7 highlighted symptom severity, suicidality, comorbid anxiety and lifetime MDEs as the most informative predictors for TRD. Applying machine-learning algorithms, a signature of three SNPs of the BDNF, PPP3CC and HTR2A genes and lacking melancholia predicted treatment response. Conclusions: The GSRD findings offer a unique and balanced perspective on TRD representing foundation for further research elaborating on specific clinical and genetic hypotheses and treatment strategies within appropriate study-designs, especially interaction-based models and randomized controlled trials.