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Abstract
Evaluation of: Warner-Schmidt JL, Vanover KE, Chen WY et al. Antidepressant effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are attenuated by antiinflammatory drugs in mice and humans. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108(22), 9262–9267 (2011).
Large studies examining remission rates obtained by antidepressants have yielded somewhat dismal results. In the well-reported Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study, only 36.8% of patients exhibited remission with the selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram and the cumulative remission rate was 67% after multiple treatments were attempted. Warner-Schmidt et al. recently published an interesting paper that suggests specific mechanisms by which anti-inflammatory drugs inhibit the antidepressant effects of SSRIs. They employed well-established mouse models of depression: the tail suspension test and the forced swim test. In their experiment, ibuprofen significantly attenuated the antidepressant-like effects of SSRIs in both tests. The authors also presented data from the STAR*D study itself. These data – demonstrating higher remission rates for depressed patients receiving citalopram without concomitant NSAIDs (55.2%) than those receiving citalopram with NSAIDs (44.5%) – serve to illustrate the potential hindering effects of anti-inflammatory drugs.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The author has no 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. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.