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Ahmed N, Bone JK, Lewis G, Freemantle N, Harmer CJ, Duffy L, Lewis G. The effect of sertraline on emotional processing: secondary analyses of the PANDA randomised controlled trial. Psychol Med 2022; 52:2814-2821. [PMID: 33431087 PMCID: PMC9647512 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291720004985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2020] [Revised: 10/29/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND According to the cognitive neuropsychological model, antidepressants reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety by increasing positive relative to negative information processing. Most studies of whether antidepressants alter emotional processing use small samples of healthy individuals, which lead to low statistical power and selection bias and are difficult to generalise to clinical practice. We tested whether the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) sertraline altered recall of positive and negative information in a large randomised controlled trial (RCT) of patients with depressive symptoms recruited from primary care. METHODS The PANDA trial was a pragmatic multicentre double-blind RCT comparing sertraline with placebo. Memory for personality descriptors was tested at baseline and 2 and 6 weeks after randomisation using a computerised emotional categorisation task followed by a free recall. We measured the number of positive and negative words correctly recalled (hits). Poisson mixed models were used to analyse longitudinal associations between treatment allocation and hits. RESULTS A total of 576 participants (88% of those randomised) completed the recall task at 2 and 6 weeks. We found no evidence that positive or negative hits differed according to treatment allocation at 2 or 6 weeks (adjusted positive hits ratio = 0.97, 95% CI 0.90-1.05, p = 0.52; adjusted negative hits ratio = 0.99, 95% CI 0.90-1.08, p = 0.76). CONCLUSIONS In the largest individual placebo-controlled trial of an antidepressant not funded by the pharmaceutical industry, we found no evidence that sertraline altered positive or negative recall early in treatment. These findings challenge some assumptions of the cognitive neuropsychological model of antidepressant action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Norin Ahmed
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London, Faculty of Brain Sciences, London, UK
| | - Jessica K. Bone
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London, Faculty of Brain Sciences, London, UK
| | - Gemma Lewis
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London, Faculty of Brain Sciences, London, UK
| | - Nick Freemantle
- Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Catherine J. Harmer
- University Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK
- Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK
| | - Larisa Duffy
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London, Faculty of Brain Sciences, London, UK
| | - Glyn Lewis
- Division of Psychiatry, University College London, Faculty of Brain Sciences, London, UK
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Martens MAG, Dalton N, Scaife J, Harmer CJ, Harrison PJ, Tunbridge EM. Catechol-O-methyltransferase activity does not influence emotional processing in men. J Psychopharmacol 2022; 36:768-775. [PMID: 35443830 PMCID: PMC9150146 DOI: 10.1177/02698811221089032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) regulates cortical dopaminergic transmission and prefrontal-dependent cognitive function. However, its role in other cognitive processes, including emotional processing, is relatively unexplored. We therefore investigated the separate and interactive influences of COMT inhibition and Val158Met (rs4680) genotype on performance on an emotional test battery. METHODS We recruited 74 healthy men homozygous for the functional COMT Val158Met polymorphism. Volunteers were administered either a single 200 mg dose of the brain-penetrant COMT inhibitor tolcapone or placebo in a double-blind, randomised manner. Emotional processing was assessed using the emotional test battery, and mood was rated using visual analogue scales and the Profile of Mood States (POMS) questionnaire across the test day. RESULTS There were no main or interactive effects of Val158Met genotype or tolcapone on any of the emotional processing measures or mood ratings. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that, at least in healthy adult men, COMT has little or no effect on emotional processing or mood. These findings contrast with several neuroimaging studies that suggest that COMT modulates neural activity during emotional processing. Thus, further studies are required to understand how COMT impacts on the relationship between behavioural output and neural activity during emotional processing. Nevertheless, our data suggest that novel COMT inhibitors under development for treating cognitive dysfunction are unlikely to have acute off target effects on emotional behaviours.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marieke AG Martens
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK,Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK,Marieke AG Martens, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK.
| | - Nina Dalton
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jessica Scaife
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK,Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK
| | - Catherine J Harmer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK,Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK
| | - Paul J Harrison
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK,Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK
| | - Elizabeth M Tunbridge
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK,Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK
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4
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Eap CB, Gründer G, Baumann P, Ansermot N, Conca A, Corruble E, Crettol S, Dahl ML, de Leon J, Greiner C, Howes O, Kim E, Lanzenberger R, Meyer JH, Moessner R, Mulder H, Müller DJ, Reis M, Riederer P, Ruhe HG, Spigset O, Spina E, Stegman B, Steimer W, Stingl J, Suzen S, Uchida H, Unterecker S, Vandenberghe F, Hiemke C. Tools for optimising pharmacotherapy in psychiatry (therapeutic drug monitoring, molecular brain imaging and pharmacogenetic tests): focus on antidepressants. World J Biol Psychiatry 2021; 22:561-628. [PMID: 33977870 DOI: 10.1080/15622975.2021.1878427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Objectives: More than 40 drugs are available to treat affective disorders. Individual selection of the optimal drug and dose is required to attain the highest possible efficacy and acceptable tolerability for every patient.Methods: This review, which includes more than 500 articles selected by 30 experts, combines relevant knowledge on studies investigating the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacogenetics of 33 antidepressant drugs and of 4 drugs approved for augmentation in cases of insufficient response to antidepressant monotherapy. Such studies typically measure drug concentrations in blood (i.e. therapeutic drug monitoring) and genotype relevant genetic polymorphisms of enzymes, transporters or receptors involved in drug metabolism or mechanism of action. Imaging studies, primarily positron emission tomography that relates drug concentrations in blood and radioligand binding, are considered to quantify target structure occupancy by the antidepressant drugs in vivo. Results: Evidence is given that in vivo imaging, therapeutic drug monitoring and genotyping and/or phenotyping of drug metabolising enzymes should be an integral part in the development of any new antidepressant drug.Conclusions: To guide antidepressant drug therapy in everyday practice, there are multiple indications such as uncertain adherence, polypharmacy, nonresponse and/or adverse reactions under therapeutically recommended doses, where therapeutic drug monitoring and cytochrome P450 genotyping and/or phenotyping should be applied as valid tools of precision medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- C B Eap
- Unit of Pharmacogenetics and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Center for Psychiatric Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Center for Research and Innovation in Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.,Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - G Gründer
- Department of Molecular Neuroimaging, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - P Baumann
- Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - N Ansermot
- Unit of Pharmacogenetics and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Center for Psychiatric Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - A Conca
- Department of Psychiatry, Health Service District Bolzano, Bolzano, Italy.,Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, South Tyrolean Regional Health Service, Bolzano, Italy
| | - E Corruble
- INSERM CESP, Team ≪MOODS≫, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire de Psychiatrie, Universite Paris Saclay, Le Kremlin Bicetre, France.,Service Hospitalo-Universitaire de Psychiatrie, Hôpital Bicêtre, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France
| | - S Crettol
- Unit of Pharmacogenetics and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Center for Psychiatric Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - M L Dahl
- Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - J de Leon
- Eastern State Hospital, University of Kentucky Mental Health Research Center, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - C Greiner
- Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte, Bonn, Germany
| | - O Howes
- King's College London and MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS)-Imperial College, London, UK
| | - E Kim
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Seoul National University College of Natural Sciences, Seoul, South Korea.,Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
| | - R Lanzenberger
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - J H Meyer
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, CAMH and Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - R Moessner
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - H Mulder
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Wilhelmina Hospital Assen, Assen, The Netherlands.,GGZ Drenthe Mental Health Services Drenthe, Assen, The Netherlands.,Department of Pharmacotherapy, Epidemiology and Economics, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.,Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Centre for Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - D J Müller
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - M Reis
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.,Clinical Chemistry and Pharmacology, Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden
| | - P Riederer
- Center of Mental Health, Clinic and Policlinic for Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry, University of Southern Denmark Odense, Odense, Denmark
| | - H G Ruhe
- Department of Psychiatry, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.,Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - O Spigset
- Department of Clinical Pharmacology, St. Olav University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway.,Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - E Spina
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
| | - B Stegman
- Institut für Pharmazie der Universität Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - W Steimer
- Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - J Stingl
- Institute for Clinical Pharmacology, University Hospital of RWTH Aachen, Germany
| | - S Suzen
- Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - H Uchida
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - S Unterecker
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - F Vandenberghe
- Unit of Pharmacogenetics and Clinical Psychopharmacology, Center for Psychiatric Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - C Hiemke
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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Jepma M, Murphy PR, Nassar MR, Rangel-Gomez M, Meeter M, Nieuwenhuis S. Catecholaminergic Regulation of Learning Rate in a Dynamic Environment. PLoS Comput Biol 2016; 12:e1005171. [PMID: 27792728 PMCID: PMC5085041 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2016] [Accepted: 09/27/2016] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Adaptive behavior in a changing world requires flexibly adapting one's rate of learning to the rate of environmental change. Recent studies have examined the computational mechanisms by which various environmental factors determine the impact of new outcomes on existing beliefs (i.e., the 'learning rate'). However, the brain mechanisms, and in particular the neuromodulators, involved in this process are still largely unknown. The brain-wide neurophysiological effects of the catecholamines norepinephrine and dopamine on stimulus-evoked cortical responses suggest that the catecholamine systems are well positioned to regulate learning about environmental change, but more direct evidence for a role of this system is scant. Here, we report evidence from a study employing pharmacology, scalp electrophysiology and computational modeling (N = 32) that suggests an important role for catecholamines in learning rate regulation. We found that the P3 component of the EEG-an electrophysiological index of outcome-evoked phasic catecholamine release in the cortex-predicted learning rate, and formally mediated the effect of prediction-error magnitude on learning rate. P3 amplitude also mediated the effects of two computational variables-capturing the unexpectedness of an outcome and the uncertainty of a preexisting belief-on learning rate. Furthermore, a pharmacological manipulation of catecholamine activity affected learning rate following unanticipated task changes, in a way that depended on participants' baseline learning rate. Our findings provide converging evidence for a causal role of the human catecholamine systems in learning-rate regulation as a function of environmental change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marieke Jepma
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University; and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
- * E-mail:
| | - Peter R. Murphy
- Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Matthew R. Nassar
- Department of Cognitive, Linguistic & Psychological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States of America
| | - Mauricio Rangel-Gomez
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, United States of America
| | - Martijn Meeter
- Department of Education Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Sander Nieuwenhuis
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University; and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
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