Antidepressant Response: Biological and Clinical Markers (ABC Study)

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  A feasibility study to examine a panel of biological and clinical markers in groups of patients being treated with antidepressant medications and healthy controls.

• IRAS ID

  206812

• Contact name

  Elaine Murray

• Contact email

  e.murray@ulster.ac.uk

• Duration of Study in the UK

  5 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Depression is a complex disorder characterised by a range of symptoms; including a persistent low mood, disturbed sleep and energy, reduced concentration and suicidal thoughts. These symptoms greatly impact social and occupational responsibilities for sufferers. Currently, the third leading cause of global disability, 350 million people are diagnosed with depression worldwide and the number is rising; by 2020 depression is expected to be second only to heart disease. Depression is principally treated with antidepressants, but this is far from straightforward as there are over 20 antidepressant drugs are currently licenced in the UK. There is significant variation within individual response, generally only a third of patients no longer have symptoms of depression after their first prescription, and up to a third of patients with depression never respond to antidepressant treatments.
  There is currently no test to determine if someone with depression will respond to treatment, and doctors often use a trial and error based approach to find a successful treatment. Recent studies have identified a number of biological markers that may be useful in predicting response to treatment when examined alongside clinical data. The proposed study is part of a PhD project, the purpose of which is to develop a test that will help doctor’s determine the most appropriate treatment for each patient. To do this we will conduct a feasibility study to establish normal and abnormal levels of a panel of potential biomarkers present in patients before, during and after treatment with antidepressant medications. We will compare these biomarkers in patients that respond well to treatment, those who do not respond well to treatment and a group of healthy individuals. This work will be used to design future studies that may validate this new test by observing patient outcomes over a long period of time.

• REC name

  HSC REC B

• REC reference

  16/NI/0133

• Date of REC Opinion

  3 Aug 2016

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion