Conditions: Bipolar Depression
Keywords: Bipolar disorder depression minocycline mood disorders bipolar depression
Allocation: NA | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 20
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study is to evaluate minocycline as a potential treatment for bipolar depression when added to a mood-stabilizing medication. Minocycline is an antibiotic that is approved for the treatment of infections and acne. Participation in this research study is expected to last 8 weeks, and includes five outpatient visits.

Detailed description:
Bipolar depression remains the great unmet need in the treatment of bipolar disorder. Only two treatments have been FDA-approved for the management of acute bipolar depression (the combination of olanzapine and fluoxetine and quetiapine). Early pilot data suggests the drug minocycline has potent antidepressant effects. Minocycline is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (for acne and bacterial infections), is inexpensive and readily available in generic formulation, and is generally well-tolerated. This study will examine whether administering the drug minocycline to individuals with bipolar depression over 8 weeks will improve their depressive symptoms. This study will also offer an option to participate in proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) to measure N-Acetylaspartate (NAA) levels in the brain, which are thought to be decreased in bipolar disorder.

Arms:
arm 1: All subjects will be given minocycline over 8 weeks

Interventions: intervention 1: Minocycline
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Minocycline 100 to 300mg per day for 8 weeks

Protocol document: