Trial reportJournal of psychiatric research2011
The treatment of minor depression with St. John's Wort or citalopram: failure to show benefit over placebo.
Trial report in Journal of psychiatric research, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- Understanding the research landscape of over-the-counter herbal products, dietary supplements, and medications evaluated for depressive symptoms in adults: a scoping review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Adaptogens on Depression-Related Outcomes: A Systematic Integrative Review and Rationale of Synergism with Physical Activity.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Current state of research on the clinical benefits of herbal medicines for non-life-threatening ailments.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of Polyphenol Supplementations on Improving Depression, Anxiety, and Quality of Life in Patients With Depression.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Citalopram versus other anti-depressive agents for depression.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2012Pooled it
- Using machine learning to forecast symptom changes among subclinical depression patients receiving stepped care or usual care.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Trial
- Antidepressant Prescribing in Primary Care to Older Adults Without Major Depression.Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) · 2017Trial
- Defined Natural Products as Adjunctive Therapies: Evidence-Gated Polypharmacology Across Molecular Targets, Human Exposure, Clinical Signals, and Safety Boundaries.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Choline Alphoscerate: A Therapeutic Option for the Management of Subthreshold Depression in the Older Population.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Documentary Analysis ofPharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Effect of Korean Red Ginseng in individuals exposed to high stress levels: a 6-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.Journal of ginseng research · 2019Article
- Subthreshold Depression Needs A Prime Time In Old Age Psychiatry? A Narrative Review Of Current Evidence.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2019Article
- Should antidepressants be used in minor depression?Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2018Review
- Review
- New Pharmacological Agents to Aid Smoking Cessation and Tobacco Harm Reduction: What Has Been Investigated, and What Is in the Pipeline?CNS drugs · 2016Review
- A meta-analysis on the efficacy and safety of St John's wort extract in depression therapy in comparison with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in adults.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2016Article
- Korean-Americans' Knowledge about Depression and Attitudes about Treatment Options.Issues in mental health nursing · 2015Article
- Hypericum perforatum-induced hepatotoxicity with possible association with copaiba (Copaifera langsdorffii Desf):case report.Einstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2014Article
- Building an evidence base in complementary and integrative healthcare for child and adolescent psychiatry.Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America · 2013Review
- [Should treatment of mild depression be exclusively psychotherapeutic? For].Der Nervenarzt · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
This paper presents new data addressing two important controversies in psychiatry: the construct of Minor Depression (MinD) and the efficacy of St. John's Wort for milder forms of depressive disorders. Data are from a three-arm, 12 week, randomized clinical trial of investigating the efficacy of St. John's Wort (810 mg/day), citalopram (20 mg/day), or placebo for acute treatment of MinD. Due to a high placebo response on all outcome measures, neither St. John's Wort nor citalopram separated from placebo on change in depressive symptom severity, quality of life, or well-being. However, systematic assessment of potential adverse effects (AEs) led to three important observations: (1) prior to the administration of study compound, 60% of subjects endorsed items that would be characterized as AEs once study compound was administered, (2) St. John's Wort and citalopram were each associated with a significant number of new or worsening AEs during treatment, and (3) using a structured interview for identifying AEs at baseline and during treatment is informative. MinD was not responsive to either a conventional antidepressant or a nutraceutical, and both compounds were associated with a notable side effects burden. Other treatment approaches for MinD should be investigated.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.