Simvastatin fails to provide Added Antidepressant Effect in MDD with Obesity: JAMA
A new study published in the Journal of American Medical Association showed that simvastatin did not provide additional antidepressant benefits when combined with escitalopram in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and obesity, although it did improve cardiovascular risk factors.
Obesity and major depressive disorder are prevalent noncommunicable diseases with significant disease burdens that commonly co-occur. Interestingly, a biological connection between obesity, metabolic syndrome, and depression has been proposed by convergent lines of evidence from genetic and observational research as well as animal models.
The antidepressant potential of statins has been suggested by a number of modest randomized clinical studies (RCTs). Thus, to determine if simvastatin added to escitalopram is more effective than a placebo at reducing depressive symptoms, this trial was carried out.
This investigation included adults with MDD and concomitant obesity from nine German tertiary care settings. Analysis of the data took place between July and October of 2024. In addition to escitalopram (10 mg during the first two weeks, then raised to 20 mg until the completion of the research), simvastatin (40 mg daily) or a placebo was administered in a double-blind manner for 12 weeks. The Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score change from baseline (week 0) to week 12 was the main result.
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