Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22549115›Full record

Trial reportNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology2012

Pioglitazone adjunctive therapy for moderate-to-severe major depressive disorder: randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.

Khatereh Sepanjnia, Amirhossein Modabbernia, Mandana Ashrafi, Mohammad-Jafar Modabbernia, Shahin Akhondzadeh

Registry-linked trialOpen access · bronzeAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01109030 (Pioglitazone as an Adjunct for Moderate to Severe Depressive Disorder), which is not on this map. Cited by 82 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
82citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 9% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT01109030 phase2 / phase3completednot on this map

Pioglitazone as an Adjunct for Moderate to Severe Depressive Disorder

TypeinterventionalSponsorTehran University of Medical SciencesRan2010 to 2011Enrolled50ConditionsMajor Depressive DisorderArmsPioglitazone+Citalopram+Chlordiazepoxide, Placebo+ Citalopram+ Chlordiazepoxide
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

82 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 145 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  14. Molecular Characterization of the Progressive Landscape of Depression.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
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  16. Review
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22 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Khatereh SepanjniaPsychiatric Research Centre, Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Amirhossein Modabbernia
Mandana Ashrafi
Mohammad-Jafar Modabbernia
Shahin Akhondzadeh
Roozbeh Hospital · IRTehran University of Medical Sciences · IRUniversity of Guilan · IR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Thiazolidinediones have shown antidepressant effect in animal studies, as well as in some uncontrolled studies evaluating human subjects with concurrent major depressive disorder (MDD) and metabolic syndrome. Although these drugs are insulin sensitizers, they also have important anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and anti-excitotoxic properties. Thus, we hypothesized that they would show antidepressant effect in patients with MDD even if it was not accompanied by metabolic disturbances. In this double-blind placebo-controlled study, 40 patients with MDD (DSM-IV-TR) and Hamilton depression rating scale-17 (Ham-D) score ≥ 22 were randomized to citalopram plus pioglitazone (15 mg every 12 h) (n=20) or citalopram plus placebo (n=20) for 6 weeks. Patients were evaluated using Ham-D (weeks 0, 2, 4, 6). Repeated-measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of covariance were used for comparison of scores between the two groups. Treatment response (≥ 50% reduction in Ham-D score), remission (Ham-D score ≤ 7), and early improvement (≥ 20% reduction in Ham-D score within the first 2 weeks) were compared between the two groups using Fisher's exact test. Pioglitazone showed superiority over placebo during the course of the trial (F(1, 38)=9.483, p=0.004). Patients in the pioglitazone group had significantly lower scores at all time points than the placebo group (P<0.01). Frequency of early improvement, response (week 6), and remission was significantly higher in the pioglitazone group (95%, 95%, 45%, respectively) than in the placebo (30%, 40%, 15% respectively) group (P<0.001, <0.001, 0.04, respectively). Frequency of side effects was similar between the two groups. Pioglitazone is a safe and effective adjunctive short-term treatment in patients with moderate-to-severe MDD even in the absence of metabolic syndrome and diabetes.

Indexed as

Severity of Illness IndexAdultChemotherapy, AdjuvantCitalopramDouble-Blind MethodDrug Therapy, CombinationFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMajor Depressive DisorderMalePioglitazoneThiazolidinedionesTreatment OutcomeCitalopramPioglitazoneThiazolidinediones

Identifiers

PMID22549115
PMCPMC3398722
OpenAlexW2079344641

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

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.