Pharmacogenomic predictors of citalopram treatment outcome in major depressive disorder.

Objectives: A significant proportion of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) do not improve following treatment with first-line antidepressants and, currently, there are no objective indicators of predictors of antidepressant response. The aim of this study was to investigate pre-treatment peripheral gene expression differences between future remitters and non-responders to citalopram treatment and identify potential pharmacogenomic predictors of response.

Methods: We conducted a gene expression study using Affymetrix HG-U133 Plus2 microarrays in peripheral blood samples from untreated individuals with MDD (N = 77), ascertained at a community outpatient clinic, prior to an 8-week treatment with citalopram.

Are neuroticism and extraversion associated with the antidepressant effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)? An exploratory 4-week trial.

Several randomized, controlled trials have found high frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (HF-rTMS) to be effective for treating major depressive disorder (MDD), but its antidepressant mechanisms have yet to be firmly understood. In this context, pre-treatment personality traits and subsequent changes in personality concomitant to treatment may be relevant for our understanding of these mechanisms. To investigate this issue we conducted a naturalistic trial in which 14 subjects with moderate to severe depression were treated with daily HF-rTMS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for 4 weeks.

Theory of mind in subjects with major depressive disorder: is it influenced by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation?

Objectives: To assess, in a sample of subjects with current major depressive disorder, whether high frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (HF-rTMS) is able to influence affective "theory of mind" (ToM).

Methods: We conducted a pilot naturalistic trial in which 14 subjects with MDD were treated with daily HF-rTMS over their left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for 4 weeks. Objective depressive symptoms and affective ToM (as assessed, respectively, by the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test [RMET]) were measured pre-post HF-rTMS treatment.

High frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation as an augmenting strategy in severe treatment-resistant major depression: a prospective 4-week naturalistic trial.

Background: Randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) have found repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to be effective for major depression, but its usefulness as an augmenting strategy for severe treatment-resistant depression (TRD) has yet to be firmly established.

Methods: In a naturalistic trial, 15 chronically depressed, severely treatment-resistant patients were treated with daily high frequency (HF) rTMS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) for 4 weeks as an augmenting strategy. Depressive and anxious symptoms (both subjective and objective), as well as quality of life (QOL) domains were measured pre-post rTMS treatment.

Medial prefrontal cortex activity during memory encoding of pictures and its relation to symptomatic improvement after citalopram treatment in patients with major depression.

Background: Brain imaging studies of major depressive disorder have shown alterations in the brain regions typically involved in episodic memory, including the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal areas. Some studies of major depressive disorder have linked episodic memory performance to treatment response. In this study, we sought to identify brain regions whose activity, measured during the encoding of pictures, predicted symptomatic improvement after 8 weeks of citalopram treatment.