Clinical Trial Details
— Status: Completed
Administrative data
| NCT number |
NCT00017836 |
| Other study ID # |
IRB00024823 |
| Secondary ID |
R01HL068630970 |
| Status |
Completed |
| Phase |
N/A
|
| First received |
June 15, 2001 |
| Last updated |
May 28, 2014 |
| Start date |
June 2001 |
| Est. completion date |
May 2006 |
Study information
| Verified date |
May 2014 |
| Source |
Emory University |
| Contact |
n/a |
| Is FDA regulated |
No |
| Health authority |
United States: Federal Government |
| Study type |
Observational
|
Clinical Trial Summary
To examine the role of depression on risk for cardiovascular disease in twins.
Description:
BACKGROUND:
Multiple studies have demonstrated a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and worse
cardiovascular disease (CVD) prognosis associated with depression that appear to
synergistically and significantly adversely impact health. Because these initial studies are
observational, much work remains to understand this area. If these conditions are
mechanistically inter-related, identification of both conditions in the same subject may
provide a means of enhancing risk stratification and most appropriately targeting therapy.
If the interaction between the conditions is causal not simply associative, appropriate
therapy interventions can be designed and tested.
DESIGN NARRATIVE:
The project is designed to clarify the role of depression on CVD risk by using a co-twin
study design. The study will examine twin pairs from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry (VET).
Twin pairs will be invited to participate if they meet two criteria: (1) neither has a
history of CVD as of 1990 and (2) one twin is diagnosed with depression as of 1992. The
study investigates the effects of depression on two indicators of "early" CVD: coronary flow
reserve, assessed by means of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) myocardial infusion
imaging; and heart rate variability (HRV) assessed by ambulatory electrocardiographic
monitoring. It is hypothesized that within each pair, the twins who have clinical depression
will exhibit lower coronary vascular reserve and lower heart rate variability compared with
their co-twins without a history of depression. Moreover, by comparing the size of the
intra-pair difference in these parameters between depression discordant monozygotic and
dizygotic twins an estimate of the relative contributions of gene and environmental factors
can be ascertained. In addition to the PET and HRV assessments, subjects will complete the
Statistical Clinical Interview of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
(DSM-IV SCID) to document a history of depression, a psychometric battery including the
Early Trauma Inventory and Hamilton Depression Scale, and such risk factors as cigarette
smoking, physical activity, blood pressure and blood lipids, glucose and insulin, indices of
inflammation and thrombogenicity including levels of reactive protein C, fibrinogen, and
P-selectin, and neurohormones such as adrenocorticotropic hormone, cortisol, and
dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate.
