Trial reportJournal of affective disorders2012
Use of insulin sensitizers for the treatment of major depressive disorder: a pilot study of pioglitazone for major depression accompanied by abdominal obesity.
Trial report in Journal of affective disorders, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
53 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 103 citations in OpenAlex.
- Depression and obesity among females, are sex specificities considered?Archives of women's mental health · 2021Pooled it
- Rosiglitazone Adjunct to Sertraline for Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial.Depression and anxiety · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Impact of ibuprofen and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma on emotion-related neural activation: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2021Trial
- Pioglitazone Metformin Complex Improves Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Comorbid Psychological Distress via Inhibiting NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation: A Prospective Clinical Study.Mediators of inflammation · 2020Trial
- Adjuvant pioglitazone for unremitted depression: Clinical correlates of treatment response.Psychiatry research · 2015Trial
- PPAR-γ agonism as a modulator of mood: proof-of-concept for pioglitazone in bipolar depression.CNS drugs · 2014Trial
- Pioglitazone adjunctive therapy for moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder: randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2012Trial
- PPARγ Signaling in the Central Nervous System: A Review of the Implications in Synaptic Plasticity, Neuroinflammatory and Neoplastic Processes.Neurochemical research · 2026Review
- The adiponectin-depression nexus: a brief review of mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities.Metabolic brain disease · 2026Review
- A pancreas-hippocampus feedback mechanism regulates circadian changes in depression-related behaviors.Nature neuroscience · 2025Article
- Synaptotagmin-7 deficit causes insulin hypoactivity and contributes to behavioral alterations in mice.iScience · 2025Article
- Efficacy and Safety of Antidiabetic Agents for Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Depression: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trials.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Resilience and Vulnerability to Stress-Induced Anhedonia: Unveiling Brain Gene Expression and Mitochondrial Dynamics in a Mouse Chronic Stress Depression Model.Biomolecules · 2023Article
- Toward a Precision Treatment Approach for Metabolic Depression: Integrating Epidemiology, Neuroscience, and Psychiatry.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2023Article
- Understanding the Role of Oxidative Stress, Neuroinflammation and Abnormal Myelination in Excessive Aggression Associated with Depression: Recent Input from Mechanistic Studies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Clinical correlates and metabolic indicators of elevated fasting glucose in overweight/obese Chinese Han patients with first-episode and drug-naive major depressive disorder.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- Are the antidepressant effects of insulin-sensitizing medications related to improvements in metabolic markers?Translational psychiatry · 2022Review
- PPARγ Dysfunction in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex Mediates High-Fat Diet-Induced Depression.Molecular neurobiology · 2022Article
- Sex Differences in Hemoglobin A1c Levels Related to the Comorbidity of Obesity and Depression.Journal of women's health (2002) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThis study was conducted to examine the safety and efficacy of pioglitazone, a thiazolidinedione insulin sensitizer, in adult outpatients with major depressive disorder.
methodIn a 12-week, open-label, flexible-dose study, 23 patients with major depressive disorder received pioglitazone monotherapy or adjunctive therapy initiated at 15 mg daily. Subjects were required to meet criteria for abdominal obesity (waist circumference>35 in. in women and >40 in. in men) or metabolic syndrome. The primary efficacy measure was the change from baseline to Week 12 on the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS) total score. Partial responders (≥25% decrease in IDS total score) were eligible to participate in an optional extension phase for an additional three months.
resultsPioglitazone decreased depression symptom severity from a total IDS score of 40.3±1.8 to 19.2±1.8 at Week 12 (p<.001). Among partial responders (≥25% decrease in IDS total score), an improvement in depressive symptoms was maintained during an additional 3-month extension phase (total duration=24 weeks) according to IDS total scores (p<.001). Patients experienced a reduction in insulin resistance from baseline to Week 12 according to the log homeostasis model assessment (-0.8±0.75; p<.001) and a significant reduction in inflammation as measured by log highly- sensitive C-reactive protein (-0.87±0.72; p<.001). During the current episode, the majority of participants (74%, n=17), had already failed at least one antidepressant trial. The most common side effects were headache and dizziness; no patient discontinued due to side effects. LIMITATIONS: These data are limited by a small sample size and an open-label study design with no placebo control.
conclusionAlthough preliminary, pioglitazone appears to reduce depression severity and improve several markers of cardiometabolic risk, including insulin resistance and inflammation. Larger, placebo-controlled studies are indicated.
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.