Clinical Trials Logo

Clinical Trial Summary

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common and troublesome disorder, with high risk of physical and psychiatric comorbidity. At least one-third of patients could not achieve a response after several antidepressant trials, so-called treatment-refractory depression (TRD). The high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) or intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) at left-sided dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) have a response rate of 40-60%. Obviously, not all TRD patients achieve the remitted state after treatment with antidepressants or DLPFC-rTMS, which may result from the heterogeneity of MDD. More and more evidence, such as brain lesion studies, deep brain stimulation, open-labeled rTMS case series, and neuroimaging studies, suggests that dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) might play a more central role in the pathophysiology of major depression. The DMPFC demonstrated as a "dorsal nexus" phenomenon in depression, which means a unique brain region where cortical networks for affect regulation, default mode control and cognitive control coverage in depressed subjects but not in healthy persons. In addition, another meta-analysis of resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) demonstrated the abnormal functional connectivity from DMPFC. These abnormalities of networks were highly associated with several depressive symptoms such as anhedonia, emotional regulation, somatic markers, rumination, self-reflection, poor attention and poor decision-making. However, only a handful of studies investigated the brain stimulation targeting DMPFC and the further changes in brain functional connectivity. The clinical efficacy and the fMRI changes of prolonged intermittent theta-burst stimulation (piTBS) and 20Hz- rTMS targeting bilateral DMPFC were investigated, and the predictive value of baseline networks by fMRI for antidepressant responses was also assessed to find a reliable approach to gauge treatment response prospectively.


Clinical Trial Description

Several open label studies showed the preliminary clinical efficacy of DMPFC stimulation, but there was no randomized sham-control trial to confirm the clinical efficacy in Asian people. In addition, there were also few fMRI studies to express the brain circuit changes after DMPFC stimulation. The clinical efficacy and the fMRI changes of prolonged intermittent theta-burst stimulation (piTBS) and 20Hz- rTMS targeting bilateral DMPFC were investigated, and the predictive value of baseline networks by fMRI for antidepressant responses was also assessed to find a reliable approach to gauge treatment response prospectively. All patients with TRD who failed at least one antidepressant trial are randomized to three groups (Group-A: piTBS treatment; Group-B: 20Hz-rTMS treatment; Group-C: sham treatment). Before and after 20 sessions targeting bilateral DMPFC over ten days, structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is arranged for each participant. In addition, pre- and post-treatment fMRI data are analyzed for each patient to investigate the networks and local brain activity changes between groups. ;


Study Design


Related Conditions & MeSH terms


NCT number NCT05422417
Study type Interventional
Source Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan
Contact Chih-Ming Cheng, M.D.
Phone +886 2 28757027
Email vdodaco@gmail.com
Status Recruiting
Phase N/A
Start date June 7, 2022
Completion date December 31, 2025

See also
  Status Clinical Trial Phase
Recruiting NCT05537558 - Precision Medicine for the Prediction of Treatment (PROMPT) Response (PROMPT)
Terminated NCT02192099 - Open Label Extension for GLYX13-C-202, NCT01684163 Phase 2
Completed NCT03142919 - Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) Challenge in Depression Phase 2
Recruiting NCT05547035 - Identification of Physiological Data by a Wearable Monitor in Subjects Suffering From Major Depression Disorders N/A
Terminated NCT02940769 - Neurobiological Effects of Light on MDD N/A
Recruiting NCT05892744 - Establishing Multimodal Brain Biomarkers for Treatment Selection in Depression Phase 4
Recruiting NCT05537584 - SMART Trial to Predict Anhedonia Response to Antidepressant Treatment Phase 4
Active, not recruiting NCT05061706 - Multicenter Study of Lumateperone as Adjunctive Therapy in the Treatment of Patients With Major Depressive Disorder Phase 3
Completed NCT04479852 - A Study of the Safety and Efficacy of SP-624 in the Treatment of Adults With Major Depressive Disorder Phase 2
Recruiting NCT04032301 - Repeated Ketamine Infusions for Comorbid PTSD and MDD in Veterans Phase 1
Recruiting NCT05527951 - Enhanced Measurement-Based Care Effectiveness for Depression (EMBED) Study N/A
Completed NCT03511599 - Cycloserine rTMS Plasticity Augmentation in Depression Phase 1
Recruiting NCT04392947 - Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder With Bilateral Theta Burst Stimulation N/A
Recruiting NCT05895747 - 5-HTP and Creatine for Depression R33 Phase Phase 2
Recruiting NCT05273996 - Predictors of Cognitive Outcomes in Geriatric Depression Phase 4
Recruiting NCT05813093 - Interleaved TMS-fMRI in Ultra-treatment Resistant Depression N/A
Recruiting NCT05135897 - The Neurobiological Fundaments of Depression and Its Relief Through Neurostimulation Treatments
Enrolling by invitation NCT04509102 - Psychostimulant Augmentation of Repetitive TMS for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder Early Phase 1
Recruiting NCT06026917 - Assessing Dopamine Transporter Occupancy in the Patients With Depression Brain With Toludesvenlafaxine Hydrochloride Extended-Release Tablets Using 11C-CFT Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Phase 4
Recruiting NCT06145594 - EMA-Guided Maintenance TMS for Depression N/A