Treatment for Bipolar Depression: Acute & Prophylactic Efficacy With Citalopram
Condition: Bipolar Disorder; Bipolar Depression
MeSH terms: Depression; Depressive Disorder; Bipolar Disorder
Study type: Interventional
Phase: Phase 2/Phase 3

Summary: 
      Bipolar depression is one of the least studied depressive illnesses. The standard practice
      for many doctors is to use antidepressant medicines, but there are few studies on the
      long-term results of these medicines. The goal of this study is to look at how effective and
      safe these medicines are in treating bipolar depression when taken with a mood stabilizer
      medicine.

      The drug being studied is citalopram, also known as Celexa. Celexa is FDA approved for the
      treatment of major depression, but is not FDA approved for the treatment of bipolar
      depression. It is, however, standard practice for many doctors is to use antidepressants,
      like Celexa, to treat their patients with bipolar disorder depression.

      The drug will be studied in three ways. We will see if it helps treat depressive symptoms. We
      will see how the drug affects the brain using PET and fMRI scans. Finally, we will look at
      the possibility that there may be a gene that could predict if a person would get better
      taking the drug using genetics.
    

Detailed description: 
      The problem of interest

      Depression is a common serious illness, with great personal suffering and a 10% or more risk
      of suicide. There are two kinds of depression, bipolar (depression alternating with mood
      swings) and unipolar ("simple" depression, or major depressive disorder). In both kinds of
      depression, antidepressants are commonly used. However, unlike unipolar depression, where a
      good deal of research supports this use, there is very little research on antidepressant use
      in bipolar disorder. Some studies support benefit with antidepressants for bipolar
      depression; i.e., if one is depressed, antidepressants can help a patient get better in the
      short-term. However, long-term studies are limited; the few available studies with older
      antidepressants did not demonstrate long-term preventive benefit. Some clinicians think new
      generation antidepressants (like Prozac and other serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are safer
      and more effective than the older antidepressants. Yet there are no rigorous long-term
      studies of new generation antidepressants in bipolar disorder. Recent observational studies
      with new antidepressants suggest that they may be harmful to some patients with bipolar
      disorder.

      Clinicians are thus left in a quandary. Antidepressants appear to be effective in the short
      term, but should the antidepressants (especially new generation antidepressants) be continued
      long-term? Some studies support both approaches. Importantly, some evidence exists that
      antidepressants can make many patients worse, with more and more depression or mania over
      time.

      This is a major public health problem, since clinicians prescribe antidepressants for the
      long-term in up to 80% of patients with bipolar disorder. This represents standard treatment,
      despite the limitations of the available evidence and the suggestion that in some patients
      such antidepressant use may be harmful.

      This study is also looking at possible biological predictors that may reflect an individual
      patients' likelihood that he or she will respond to a specific treatment.

      How the problem will be studied

      This project is one of the most rigorous studies of new generation antidepressants in
      long-term treatment of bipolar disorder. We will recruit patients with bipolar disorder who
      are currently in a depressive episode and are taking or eligible and interested in taking a
      mood stabilizer such as lithium. Subjects will then be randomly put into one of two groups.
      The first group will receive the generic antidepressant, citalopram while the other group
      will receive placebo, sugar pill. Patients will be closely followed and monitored by the
      research psychiatrist and through a series of safety labs. Subjects will have an MRI and PET
      scan for the biological predictors section of the study. The key question is: After the acute
      recovery, should they continue antidepressants or not?

      As there is limited scientific data, and opposing kinds of clinical experience, there is no
      clear rationale to making this decision. Our study seeks to provide a scientific basis for
      making that decision. We plan to follow subjects for a goal of 1 year to obtain long-term
      outcome data on which approach is best.

      How the research will advance scientific knowledge or human health

      Since there are no rigorous long-term studies with new generation antidepressants in bipolar
      disorder, this study will be a major advance in that knowledge. Clinicians will have some
      evidence on which to base that decision, rather than simply their own opinions or patients'
      preferences. In the light of recent evidence that antidepressants are potentially harmful to
      some patients, this study will provide more information about how new antidepressants work
      specifically for bipolar patients rather than unipolar depression (also known as major
      depression). The biological portion of the study will shed light on possible biological
      factors that could show how an individual may respond to a specific treatment. This could
      potentially help doctors to decide on which treatments are more or less likely to work for
      their individual patients rather then using a "hit or miss" type method.
    

Intervention name(s): citalopram + mood stabilizer; placebo + mood stabilizer
Intervention type(s): Drug; Drug
Intervention description(s): Citalopram dose will be flexibly designed, beginning at 10 mg/d for at least one week, and the increased by 10 mg per week to a maximum of 50 mg/d. No target dose will be provided but rather clinicians will dose to clinical efficacy. Thus the study will provide clinicians data on the effective dose if it is positive. The dose will not be predetermined at static amounts.; This arm will only receive mood stabilizing medication. All subjects will be required to receive treatment with lithium, lamotrigine, valproate, or carbamazepine for at least one month at therapeutic blood levels or doses before randomization, or they must initiate one of these agents at study entry.
Other intervention name(s): Celexa; lithium, lamotrigine, valproate, or carbamazepine
Intervention MeSH terms: Lamotrigine; Carbamazepine; Valproic Acid; Citalopram
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Investigator)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Bipolar Disorder; Bipolar Depression; Clinical Trials, Phase II; Clinical Pharmacology