Current evidence for aripiprazole as augmentation therapy in major depressive disorder

Abstract

Aripiprazole (Abilify^®) is the first atypical antipsychotic approved as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of major depressive disorder. The pharmacological basis of the action of aripiprazole in major depressive disorder remains unclear, but it may be related to its potent partial agonism of the dopamine D₂/D₃ receptors, partial agonism of the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)_1A receptor and antagonism of the 5-HT_2A receptor. This article reviews findings on the efficacy and tolerability of aripiprazole from two identical placebo-controlled trials and from smaller open-label and retrospective studies. At doses of 2–15 mg/day aripiprazole was efficacious and well tolerated as adjunctive therapy to antidepressants in patients who had not responded to monotherapy.

Keywords::

• aripiprazole
• major depressive disorder
• remission
• response

Financial & competing interests disclosure

In the past 13 years, A Khan has been a Principal Investigator for approximately 280 clinical trials, sponsored by 57 pharmaceutical companies, including Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka. A Khan has not been a paid consultant or been a paid speaker for Bristol-Myers Squibb or Otsuka. Funding was provided by Bristol-Myers Squibb for the conduct of the studies. No financial support was provided by Bristol-Myers Squibb for authoring this article. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Editorial support for the preparation of this manuscript was provided by Linda LaRue, PhD, Bristol-Myers Squibb.