Citalopram or escitalopram may reduce depression and corticosteroids need in patients with asthma and depression

Results:

In the pooled sample (n = 255), the antidepressant treatment group demonstrated lower HAM-D17 scores overall (p ≤ .001) and a lower likelihood for oral corticosteroid use (p ≤ .001) relative to the placebo group. In the high exacerbation subgroup (n = 96), treatment group participants had lower overall ACQ (p = .004) and HAM-D17 scores (p ≤ .001), and a lower likelihood of oral corticosteroid use (p = .003), relative to placebo participants. All treatment group interaction effects were non-significant.

Citalopram or escitalopram demonstrated efficacy in reducing depressive symptoms and the need for rescue oral corticosteroids in patients with asthma and MDD. Future work should determine whether SSRIs are effective at improving asthma outcomes in those with asthma who are not depressed.

Reference:

Catherine D. Agarwal, Jayme M. Palka, Alexander J. Gajewski, David A. Khan, E. Sherwood Brown. The Efficacy of Citalopram or Escitalopram in Patients with Asthma and Major Depressive Disorder, Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 2023, ISSN 1081-1206,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anai.2023.11.004.

(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1081120623014011)

Keywords:

Citalopram, escitalopram, reduce, depressive, symptoms, corticosteroids, need, patients, asthma, depression, Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, Catherine D. Agarwal, Jayme M. Palka, Alexander J. Gajewski, David A. Khan, E. Sherwood Brow