Conditions: Depression Bipolar Disorder
Keywords: bipolar disorder depression treatment randomized controlled trial
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 11
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
This study evaluates the efficacy of the thyroid hormone T3 for depression in patients with bipolar disorder. In this study patients will be randomized to receive T3 or placebo.

Detailed description:
Bipolar affective disorder is a debilitating illness, and is characterized by depression episodes that dominates the longitudinal course and are most difficult to treat. Controlled trials with monotherapy mood stabilizers such as lithium and valproate show little to no efficacy and antidepressants may offer no additional efficacy. Recently there has been a growing interest in the use of quetiapine in bipolar depression. However, a successful treatment may take up to 8 weeks, and full remission is achieved in only 50% of patients. Thyroid hormone augmentation strategies have been used in unipolar depression with good results, but there is a paucity of its efficacy in bipolar depression (BD). To our knowledge there are no controlled studies regarding the efficacy of thyroid augmentation in BD. The present study proposes to evaluate the efficacy of T3 as an augmentation to treatment as usual in the treatment of BD. We plan to enroll patients with bipolar disorder I or II who are currently presenting with depressive symptoms. Patients will be randomized to 2 groups - liothyronine or placebo Results will provide information on the possible role of thyroid hormone augmentation in the treatment of patients with bipolar depression, and may contribute to alleviate the burden of this disabling condition.

Arms:
arm 1: liothyronine (T3) arm 2: placebo

Interventions: intervention 1: Liothyronine (T3) intervention 2: placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: liothyronine (T3) up to 50 micrograms a day intervention 2: placebo

Protocol document: