View clinical trials related to Depressive Disorder.
Filter by:Recent research has demonstrated a relationship between depression and immune system activity, specifically proinflammatory cytokine activity. Although experimentally-induced immune activation leads to increases in depressed mood, the neural correlates associated with these changes have remained largely unexplored. Based on relationships between cytokine activity, depression, and heightened physical and social pain sensitivity, I propose to investigate the effect of proinflammatory cytokine activation on the neural correlates of socially painful experience that may contribute to depression. Our previous work has shown that the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), typically associated with physical pain distress, also plays a role in the distressing feelings associated with social rejection or social loss. Moreover, recent pilot data has revealed that individuals with elevated levels of baseline proinflammatory cytokines report feeling more distressed and show more dACC activity during social rejection. To investigate the causal role that cytokines may play in the heightened social pain sensitivity that can contribute to depression, participants will be randomly assigned to receive either endotoxin (which increases proinflammatory cytokine activity) or placebo. Subsequently, participants will complete a neuroimaging study in which they will be rejected during an online ball-tossing game. We hypothesize that individuals exposed to endotoxin will report more social distress and depression following rejection and will show more dACC reactivity during rejection. The proposed study is the first to investigate the effect of systemic inflammation on neural reactivity related to social and affective processes that may increase the risk of depression.
This study will develop and test a youth cognitive behavioral insomnia intervention to be employed as an adjunct to depression-focused cognitive behavioral treatments. The primary goal of the study is to improve the treatment and prevention of youth depression beyond that achieved with depression-focused pharmacotherapy and psychotherapies. The investigators' ultimate aim in developing this intervention is to enable a series of future outcome trials focused on improving unipolar depression outcomes in youth with comorbid insomnia, by addressing sleep dysfunction. The study will be recruiting from Kaiser Health Plan members in the Portland,Oregon metropolitan area and participants from the Bay Area region of California.
This is a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trial to see if treatment with sertraline as compared with placebo tablets will improve depression symptoms in patients with chronic kidney disease who have not yet started dialysis or received a kidney transplant. The investigators will also investigate whether sertraline treatment will improve quality of life and whether it is safe to use in patients with kidney disease. The study subject will be randomly assigned to take either sertraline or a placebo tablet for 12 weeks.
The neuropeptide Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase Activating Polypeptide (PACAP) and its receptors PAC1 and VPAC2 are widely expressed in the nervous system. The investigators found that PACAP treatment of neuronal cell cultures increases expression of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) that plays an important role in the etiology of psychiatric disorders and action of antidepressants. For the first time, the investigators demonstrated that treatment by Paroxetine and Citalopram significantly decreases PAC1 and VPAC2 and upregulates PACAP mRNA expression, whereas Imipramine shows an opposite effect. Moreover, PACAP, PAC1 and VPAC2 expression is highly correlated with BDNF expression. Their in vivo studies show that Imipramine reduces BDNF and increases PAC1 mRNA expression in murine hippocampus, suggesting that antidepressants may affect neuronal plasticity through PACAP-BDNF interactions. Based on their observations in experimental systems, the investigators hypothesize that PACAP signaling system may be involved in the etiology of depression and mechanism of antidepressant action. The investigators will evaluate this hypothesis by examining serum PACAP levels, effect of antidepressants on PACAP levels, and gene polymorphisms of PACAP and its receptors in major depressive disorder patients. This study will enhance the investigators' understanding of PACAP's role in the etiology of depression and antidepressant treatment and will provide a basis to evaluate PACAP pathway as a potential target for diagnostics and novel antidepressants drug discovery.
Research aimed at assessing changes in depressogenic thinking and the ability to disengage from depressogenic thinking following Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
This study will develop and test a Web-based program to treat women with postpartum depression.
The study involves a 32-week randomized controlled trial in primary care of a comprehensive diabetic and depression intervention in patients with type 2 diabetes and comorbid MDD, compared to a group treated with usual care for MDD plus disease self-management and measurement-based care for diabetes.
The primary purpose of this study is to to assess the pharmacokinetics of paroxetine after single doses of paroxetine CR at the dose levels of 12.5, 25 and 50mg in healthy Japanese male volunteers.
Depression is frequently accompanied by a specific sad facial expression. This expression is in part mediated by the same muscle activity that produces frown lines. Based on the assumption that there is a positive feedback between depressed mood and the correspondent facial muscle activity (facial feedback) the investigators will conduct a randomized controlled pilot study in which the investigators will apply a classical cosmetic treatment of frown lines with injections of botulinum toxin to depressed patients who did not sufficiently respond to antidepressant medication. The investigators hypothesize that this treatment will contribute to the amelioration of depressive symptoms in these patients. This hypothesis is supported by a previous open case series in which remission of depression was reported after such treatment (Finzi and Wasserman, 2006).
The purpose of this study is to study the effect of duloxetine treatment on (1) cognitive functions, the brain mechanisms involved with thinking, reasoning, learning, and remembering; (2) psychosocial functions, how someone interacts with his/her social environment; and (3) the relationship between these two functions, in people who have major depressive disorder, a severe form of depression.