Depression
Conditions
Keywords
Depression, Folate, Folic acid, Antidepressants
Brief summary
To determine whether giving folic acid to people with depression will help their antidepressants work better. If folate does help antidepressants to work better, then it will provide a safe, simple and cheap way of improving the treatment of depression.
Detailed description
Clinical depression is common, debilitating and treatable; one in four people experience it during their lives. The majority of sufferers are treated in primary care and only half respond well to active treatment. Evidence suggests that folate may be a useful adjunct to antidepressant treatment: 1) patients with depression often have a functional folate deficiency; 2) the severity of such deficiency, indicated by elevated homocysteine, correlates with depression severity, 3) low folate is associated with poor antidepressant response, and 4) folate is required for the synthesis of neurotransmitters implicated in the pathogenesis and treatment of depression. The primary objective of this multi-centred placebo-controlled randomised trial is to estimate the effect of folate augmentation in new or continuing treatment of depressive disorder in primary and secondary care. Secondary objectives are to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of folate augmentation of antidepressant treatment, investigate how the response to antidepressant treatment depends on genetic polymorphisms relevant to folate metabolism and antidepressant response, and explore whether baseline folate status can predict response to antidepressant treatment. Comparisons: Eligible patients with moderate to severe depression will be randomised to receive 5mg of folic acid or placebo as an adjunct to their antidepressant treatment.
Interventions
DRUGFolic Acid
Folic acid 5 mg once a day for three months as a supplement to their antidepressant treatment
DRUGPlacebo
Matching placebo taken once a day for three months
Sponsors
NHS Health Technology Assessment Programme
Swansea University
Cardiff University
University of Liverpool
North West Wales NHS Trust
North East Wales NHS Trust
Swansea NHS Trust
Bangor University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Only patients aged 18 or over * ICD-10 diagnosis of moderate to severe depression * Able to give informed consent (not delirious, actively psychotic or with severe communication or learning disability) * Able to complete the research assessments
Exclusion criteria
* are folate deficient * are B12 deficient * have knowingly taken supplements containing folic acid within 2 months * suffer from psychosis * are already participating in another research project * are pregnant or planning to become pregnant * are taking anticonvulsants * have a serious, advanced or terminal illness with a life expectancy of less than 1 year * have recently started treatment for a medical condition which has not yet been stabilised * are taking lithium * have had a diagnosis or treatment for any malignant disease or any related condition such as intestinal polyposis
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Self rated symptoms of depression using the Beck Depression Inventory | Repeated measures up to 6 months after initiation of folic acid/placebo |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Clinician rated symptom severity using the Clinical Global Impression scale | Repeated measures up to 6 months after initiation of folic acid/placebo |
| Health status using the SF12 | Repeated measures up to 6 months after initiation of folic acid/placebo |
| Adverse events | Repeated measures up to 6 months after initiation of folic acid/placebo |
| Cost Utility using the EuroQol, resource use questionnaire and medication history | Repeated measures up to 6 months after initiation of folic acid/placebo |
| Clinician rated depression using the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale | Repeated measures up to 6 months after initiation of folic acid/placebo |
| Homocysteine Status | Baseline, 3 months and 6 months |
| The interaction between any of the genetic polymorphisms in the folate pathway that predicts the severity of depression, response to antidepressants, and the response to folate supplementation | Baseline only |
| Compliance - using the number of tablets remaining at each follow up, dispensing records for folic acid or placebo, dates of repeat prescriptions, Morisky questionnaire, red cell folate and homocysteine levels | 12 weeks and 6 months |
| Folate status | Baseline, 3 months and 6 months |
Countries
United Kingdom
Outcome results
None listed