Conditions: MDD Citalopram Major Depressive Disorder
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 32
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
Primarily, this study seeks to evaluate whether citalopram treatment is associated with an increase in the Glutamine (Gln)/Glutamate (Glu) ratio in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) from baseline to day 3 of treatment. Additionally, this study would like to examine whether citalopram treatment is associated with an increase in the Gln/Glu ratio in the ACC from baseline to day 7 of treatment. In order to more fully examine baseline neurochemical and functional abnormalities in participants with MDD, we also seek to scan a group of age- and sex-matched non-depressed comparison individuals in order to perform between-group analyses of baseline neuroimaging measures.

Detailed description:
Little is known about the acute effects of standard antidepressant treatments on brain glutamate and gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) levels, and their association with clinical response. In the current study, we used proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) to examine longitudinally the effects of citalopram on the glutamine/glutamate ratio and GABA levels in the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC) - a region that has been repeatedly implicated in antidepressant response - of individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD). We acquired 1H-MRS scans at baseline and at days 3, 7, and 42 of citalopram treatment in nineteen unmedicated individuals with MDD. Ten age- and sex-matched non-depressed comparison individuals were scanned once and did not receive citalopram. The association between baseline metabolites and the change in metabolites from baseline to each time point and change in Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score from baseline to day 42 was assessed by longitudinal regression analysis, adjusting for age, sex, and baseline MADRS, using generalized estimating equations.

Arms:
arm 1: Participants with major depressive disorder received citalopram 20-40 mg daily for 6 weeks. MRI scans were acquired at baseline and days 3, 7, and 42. arm 2: Healthy volunteer participants did not receive citalopram and performed one MRI scan.

Interventions: intervention 1: citalopram
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: citalopram 20-40 mg daily

Protocol document: