Active clinical trials for "Depressive Disorder"

Background: Researchers studying new treatments for major depressive disorder are looking at how medications to treat depression act on the brain chemical serotonin, which interacts with specific serotonin receptors on brain cells. New methods of studying serotonin receptors in the brain may help provide a better understanding of depression and treatment options. A new radioactive chemical called [11C]CUMI may be useful for studying serotonin receptors in the brain. By using positron emission tomography (PET) scanning to see how [11C]CUMI bonds with serotonin receptors, researchers will investigate whether [11C]CUMI can be used to study depression and how antidepressant medications work. Objectives: - To determine the usefulness of [11C]CUMI as a method of studying serotonin receptors in the brain. Eligibility: - Healthy individuals between 18 and 65 who have no history of psychiatric illness. Design: This study requires 8 outpatient visits to the NIH clinic. Visit 1: Participants will have a full physical examination and medical history, as well as a psychiatric evaluation and questions about alcohol and drug use. Other tests will include blood and urine samples and an electrocardiogram (EKG). Testing will take approximately 3 hours. Visit 2: Participants will have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan to evaluate brain function and activity. Visit 3: Participants will have a PET scan, in which a small amount of the radioactive chemical [11C]CUMI will be injected through an intravenous (IV) catheter, and will have another IV line put in place to draw regular blood samples during the scan. The scan will last approximately 4 hours. Visits 4-8: Participants will have regular blood tests after the scan between days 1-3 and at about weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4. The blood tests will check muscle, heart, and liver function.

The primary objective of this study is to measure the effects of patient cost-sharing on the initiation of adjunctive treatment and subsequent healthcare utilization and expenditures among a population of commercially insured adults on antidepressant therapy.

In this study we will assess as a primary objective the effect of venlafaxine retard treatment on primary care attended elderly patients with depressive syndrome. We will also study secondarily its effects on anxiety, somatic and painful symptoms of depression.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether telephonic depression care management can improve depression outcomes for Latino primary care patients who are enrolled in Medicaid and are receiving an antidepressant from their primary care doctor.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate alterations in sympathetic tone in patients with major depression with and without ischemic heart disease and then to reevaluate these patients after 8 treatments with electroconvulsive therapy(ECT). We expect to support the hypothesis that HRV are pathophysiologically associated with the state of major depression. We hypothesize the following: Heart rate variability (HRV) will be decreased prior to treatment of depression in comparison to post-treatment measures of HRV. After 8 treatments with ECT, HRV will be increased under basal conditions.

The purpose of this study is to examine the short and long-term benefits of implementing early regional anesthesia techniques for pain control after a major traumatic injury to one or more extremities during combat in the Iraqi/Afghanistan war, including the effects on acute and chronic pain, quality of life, and mental health.

Clinical practice indicates that Quetiapine has sedating properties, and its sedative effects may play an important role in restoring quality of sleep in patients with various psychiatric conditions who frequently experience sleep disturbances as part of their illness. It is well known that depressive disorders are very frequently associated with significant sleep disturbance. Sleep disruption is a feature of Bipolar Disorder during both Depressed and Manic/Hypomanic episodes. Considering that Seroquel has good antidepressant properties (Calabrese, 2004), the investigators suggest that Seroquel's effect on sleep architecture contributes to its antidepressant properties.

This study will use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine how the brain regulates emotions in healthy people and in patients who have major depression and anhedonia (loss of feeling of pleasure in things that normally give pleasure). Healthy normal volunteers and patients between 18 and 50 years of age with major depression, with or without significant anhedonia, are eligible for this study. Candidates will be screened with a psychiatric interview, a physical examination that will include blood and urine samples, and an electrocardiogram, and a questionnaire about their emotions. Participants will perform a monetary reward task while lying in an MRI scanner. The task is similar to playing a computer video game with the possibility of winning cash. The amount of cash is largely dependent on the subject's performance. The accumulated amount of cash earned in a session will fluctuate depending on the subject's continuing performance level. That is, during a single session, a subject could lose money earned early in the session if his or her performance later in the session is not as good as earlier. MRI pictures will be taken during performance of the task. MRI uses a magnetic field and radio waves to produce images of body tissues and organs. The patient lies on a table that is moved into the scanner (a narrow cylinder) and wears earplugs to muffle loud knocking and thumping sounds that occur during the scanning process. The procedure will last about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

The purpose of this retrospective study is to determine if there is an increase in postpartum depression (PPD) among women who undergo an emergency cesarean section as opposed to a planned cesarean section. We will analyze the hospital and clinic medical records of postpartum women who delivered by cesarean section (CS) at Tulsa Regional Medical Center between January 1, 2003, and June 1, 2005, and who obtained their postpartum care at the OSU Ob/Gyn Clinic in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We will record whether the cesarean was planned or emergent, and we will note the score they received on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale when they came to the clinic for their four-week postpartum visit. A score of 12 or lower on the EPDS will be considered "not depressed", and a score of 13 or higher will be considered "depressed." Numbers of depressed patients will be compared among the two types of cesarean sections and analyzed for statistical differences using the chi-squared method of analysis.

Serotonin is a chemical involved in regulation of emotions, anxiety, sleep, stress hormones, and other body functions. The purpose of this study is to use a procedure called tryptophan depletion to study the function of serotonin in people with depression and in healthy volunteers. Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been associated with reduced functioning of central serotonergic systems. Tryptophan depletion (TD) is a procedure used to investigate the relationship between serotonergic function and depression. Evidence suggests that the mood lowering effects of TD depend upon family history and differences in genes for a specific protein called 5-HTTLPR. Healthy females with a particular gene for 5-HTTLPR and a family history of mood disorders appear to be at a greater risk for the development of depressive symptoms during TD. This study will use positron emission tomography (PET) scans of the brain to investigate the effect of variant 5-HTTLPR genotypes on response to TD. The relationship between 5-HTTLPR genotypes and the effect of TD on brain activity in individuals with different 5-HTTLPR genes will be determined. This study will also examine how the reduced serotonin function that occurs in MDD affects the brain's response to sensory stimulation. Participants in this study will be screened by telephone about their psychiatric and medical history, current emotional state, anxiety and sleep patterns, and family history of psychiatric disorders. At study entry, participants will have an interview, physical examination, electrocardiogram (EKG), and blood and laboratory tests. Menstruating women will have a pregnancy test and tests to determine menstrual phase and time of ovulation. At the second clinic visit, participants will undergo tests of intelligence and cognitive abilities and a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain. Prior to Visits 3 and 4, participants will collect their saliva and urine. Menstruating women will have a pregnancy test. At Visits 3 and 4, participants will undergo TD studies and PET scanning. During one of these visits, participants will take capsules of an amino acid. On the other day, they will take lactose capsules. Throughout the study, participants will be asked about their emotional state, anxiety, ability to concentrate, and well being. ...