Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Augmentation by D-Cycloserine as a Treatment for Depression

Major Depressive Disorder Clinical Trial

Official title:

An Open Pilot Trial of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Augmented by D-Cycloserine as a Treatment for Depression.

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00869765
• Other study ID #: 09052
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 2
• First received: March 25, 2009
• Last updated: September 9, 2010
• Start date: April 2009
• Est. completion date: September 2010

Study information

• Verified date: September 2010
• Source: The University of New South Wales
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Australia: Department of Health and Ageing Therapeutic Goods Administration
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Among antidepressant treatments, Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) stands as the most effective in treating acute depression. However, patient concerns with the cognitive side effects of ECT have encouraged the development of new and more focal forms of brain stimulation such as transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS). The investigators' current study of tDCS as a treatment for depression suggests that this technique has antidepressant effects and is safe, painless and well tolerated. However, not all patients may respond to this treatment and the concern of possible relapse in some patients who respond to tDCS has raised interest in finding treatments that may enhance and prolong the antidepressant effects of tDCS. This study will investigate whether D-Cycloserine, a medication shown to lengthen the effects of tDCS on brain activity, can also enhance/prolong the antidepressant effects of tDCS in people suffering from depression.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 5
• Est. completion date: September 2010
• Est. primary completion date: September 2010
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years to 90 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Subject met inclusion criteria for study HREC 07305 (a sham controlled study of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a treatment for depression).

2. Subject completed study HREC 07305.

3. Subject either did not reach remission at the end of trial (defined as MADRS score of = 10) or suffered an early relapse (within a month of finishing the trial).

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Diagnosis (as defined by DSM-IV) of: any psychotic disorder (lifetime); bipolar disorder; eating disorder (current or within the past year); obsessive compulsive disorder (lifetime); post-traumatic stress disorder current or within the past year); mental retardation.

2. History of drug or alcohol abuse or dependence (as per DSM-IV criteria) within the last 3 months (except nicotine and caffeine).

3. Inadequate response to ECT in the current episode of depression.

4. Subject is on regular benzodiazepine medication which it is not clinically appropriate to discontinue.

5. Subject requires a rapid clinical response due to inanition, psychosis or high suicide risk.

6. Neurological disorder or insult, e.g., recent stroke (CVA), which places subject at risk of seizure or neuronal damage with tDCS.

7. Subject has metal in the cranium, skull defects, or skin lesions on scalp (cuts, abrasions, rash) at proposed electrode sites.

8. Female subject who is pregnant, or of child-bearing age, sexually active and not using reliable contraception (urine test for pregnancy will be used)

Study Design

Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Bipolar Disorder
• Depression
• Depressive Disorder
• Depressive Disorder, Major
• Disease
• Major Depressive Disorder

Intervention

Drug:
• D-Cycloserine
100 mg D-cycloserine once every weekday taken 2 hours before tDCS session.

Device:
• tDCS (Eldith DC-Stimulator (CE certified))
tDCS session lasting continuously for 20 minutes at 2 mA. Conductive rubber electrodes (7 x 5 cm, 35 cm2) covered by sponges soaked in saline will be used, held in place by a head band. The current will be gradually increased to the level of 2 mA over 30 seconds (to avoid the sensation of a flash).

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Australia	Black Dog Institute, University of New South Wales	Randwick	New South Wales

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
The University of New South Wales

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Australia, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS-C)		6 months	No
Secondary	Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale for Depression (MADRS)		6 months	No

External Links

•   Black Dog Institute website