Abstract
Background: Lithium augmentation of antidepressants is an effective strategy in treatment-resistant depression. The proteohormone ghrelin is thought to be involved in the pathophysiology of depression. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of treatment response with the course of ghrelin levels during lithium augmentation Method: Ghrelin serum concentrations and severity of depression were measured in 85 acute depressive patients before and after 4 weeks of lithium augmentation. Results: In a linear mixed model analysis, we found a significant effect of response time interaction (F1.81 = 9.48; P = .0028): Under treatment, ghrelin levels increased in nonresponders and slightly decreased in responders to lithium augmentation. The covariate female gender had a significant positive effect (F1.83 = 4.69; P = .033), whereas time, response, appetite, and body mass index (kg/m2) did not show any significant effect on ghrelin levels (P > .05). Conclusion: This is the first study showing that the course of ghrelin levels separates responders and nonresponders to lithium augmentation. Present results support the hypothesis that ghrelin serum concentrations might be involved in response to pharmacological treatment of depression.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| Pages (from-to) | 692-697 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| ISSN | 1461-1457 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 01.09.2017 |
Funding
Roland Ricken received an unrestricted research grant from Aristo. Thomas Stamm received speaker honoraria from Lundbeck and BristolMyersSquibb. He is a consultant for Servier. Hubertus Himmerich received speaker honoraria from AstraZeneca and Servier, consulting fees from Bristol-Myers Squibb, and chemical substances for study support from AstraZeneca, Novartis, and Wyeth. Stefan Borgwardt received contributions or honoraria from Janssen-Cilag, Lilly, Takeda, Lundbeck, and Pfizer. Michael Bauer has received grants or research support from German Research Foundation, European Commission (FP7), American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. He has received speaker honoraria from AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly, Lundbeck, Otsuka, and Pfizer. He is a consultant for AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ferrer Internacional, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Takeda, Otsuka, and Lundbeck. Samuel Elstner received honoraria from Novartis and Janssen-Cilag. Mazda Adli has received grants or research support from Aristo, Servier, and Bristol-Myers Squibb; honoraria for speaking from Deutsche Bank, the Johanniter Order, East German Savings Banks Association, Pusch Wahl Legal Lawyers, HRM Forum, Helios Media, Lundbeck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Servier, Aristo, Viiv, and Gilead; travel grants from the Alfred Herrhausen Society, Lundbeck, and Servier; and has been a consultant to Deutsche Bank, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Aristo, Merz, and Lundbeck. Sandra Bopp, Peter Schlattmann, Rainer Hellweg, Brigitte Schulz-Ratei, Philipp Sterzer, Alexandra Lingesleben, Christoph Richter, Undine E. Lang, and Andreas Heinz wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome. This work was supported by sources of the Mood Disorders Research Unit of Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapie, Campus Charité Mitte.
