Citalopram amplifies the influence of living conditions on mood in depressed patients enrolled in the STAR*D study.

ABSTRACT: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the most commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs, have a variable and incomplete efficacy. In order to better understand SSRI action, we explored the hypothesis that SSRIs do not affect mood per se but amplify the influence of the living conditions on mood. To this aim, we exploited the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) data set, selected a subpopulation of 591 patients with an overlapping clinical history and analyzed treatment outcome according to dosage -20 or 40 mg per day of citalopram. We found that sociodemographic characteristics affected treatment response in the same direction in the two dose groups, but these effects reached statistical significance only in the 40 mg per day dose group. In the latter

SUBMITTER: Chiarotti F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5416678 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature