Anti-inflammatory drugs could help treat symptoms of depression
Anti-inflammatory drugs similar to those used to treat conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis could be used to treat some cases of depression, concludes a review led by the University of Cambridge.
Researchers analysed data from 20 clinical trials involving the use of anti-cytokine drugs to treat a range of autoimmune inflammatory diseases.
By looking at additional beneficial side effects of the treatments, the experts found there was a significant antidepressant effect from the drugs compared to a placebo. The drugs led to an improvement in the severity of depressive symptoms independently of improvements in physical illness. So whether a drug successfully treated rheumatoid arthritis (for example) it would still help improve a patient’s depressive symptoms.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear to us that inflammation plays a role in depression, at least for some individuals, and now our review suggests that it may be possible to treat these individuals using some anti-inflammatory drugs,” explains Dr Golam Khandaker, who led the study. “These are not your everyday anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, however, but a particular new class of drugs.”
Prof Peter Jones, co-author of the study, comments:
“It’s too early to say whether these anti-cytokine drugs can be used in clinical practice for depression, however. We will need clinical trials to test how effective they are in patients who do not have the chronic conditions for which the drugs have been developed, such as rheumatoid arthritis or Crohn’s disease. On top of this, some existing drugs can have potentially serious side effects, which would need to be addressed.”
Click here to read the original research.
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