Mental Health Study | A new meta-analysis of 36 randomized clinical trials involving nearly 10,000 people found support for an antidepressant effect in patients taking anti-inflammatory drugs.
Five of 6 anti-inflammatory agents were associated with improved depression scores in patients taking antidepressants, compared with adjunctive placebo.
Researchers published their findings online in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica.
“Increasing evidence indicates that inflammatory processes can cause and contribute to the development of depression or symptoms of depression,” researchers explained.
“Based on these observations, randomized clinical trials have explored whether anti-inflammatory agents may have antidepressant effects and if it can be used to improve antidepressant treatment as an add-on.”
The trials included in the meta-analysis investigated six groups of anti-inflammatory drugs: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), cytokine inhibitors, statins, minocycline, pioglitazone, and glucocorticoids.
The meta-analysis found most anti-inflammatory agents improved antidepressant treatment effects compared with placebo and were superior to antidepressants plus placebo in adults with major depressive disorder. Pioglitazone was the only anti-inflammatory not associated with an antidepressant effect.
The study also found that, when used as monotherapy, 4 of the 6 anti-inflammatory agents outperformed placebo in improving depression scores.
“The present findings show that specifically anti-inflammatory add-on treatment to antidepressants may have beneficial effects in patients with major depressive disorder, but also the shown effects on depressive symptoms among patients with a somatic disease are promising,” researchers wrote.
“NSAIDs, cytokine inhibitors, statins, glucocorticoids, and minocycline all showed antidepressant effects.”
