Trial reportJournal of affective disorders2013
Combining a dopamine agonist and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor for the treatment of depression: a double-blind, randomized pilot study.
Trial report in Journal of affective disorders, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Augmentation strategies for treatment resistant major depression: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Pharmacological interventions for treatment-resistant depression in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019Pooled it
- Efficacy and target engagement of dopamine agonist pramipexole for anhedonic depression: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.Nature medicine · 2026Trial
- Evidence-Based Pharmacotherapies for Major Depressive Disorder: A Clinical Update.Psychopharmacology bulletin · 2026Review
- The effect of serotonin reuptake and serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors on motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease: A PPMI-based matched-subject study.Journal of Parkinson's disease · 2024Article
- Pramipexole for the Treatment of Depression: Efficacy and Mechanisms.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2024Review
- Cortisol as a Target for Treating Mental Disorders: A Promising Avenue for Therapy.Mini reviews in medicinal chemistry · 2024Review
- Pramipexole Augmentation for Treatment-Resistant Unipolar and Bipolar Depression in the Real World: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Increased Inflammation and Treatment of Depression: From Resistance to Reuse, Repurposing, and Redesign.Advances in neurobiology · 2023Article
- PAX-D: study protocol for a randomised placebo-controlled trial evaluating the efficacy and mechanism of pramipexole as add-on treatment for people with treatment resistant depression.Evidence-based mental health · 2022Article
- Anti-depressive-like effect of monoterpeneSaudi journal of biological sciences · 2022Article
- Aiding and Abetting Anhedonia: Impact of Inflammation on the Brain and Pharmacological Implications.Pharmacological reviews · 2021Review
- Role of Mesolimbic Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Depression.Biological psychiatry · 2019Review
- Dopamine Release in Antidepressant-Naive Major Depressive Disorder: A Multimodal [Biological psychiatry · 2018Article
- HCN2 channels in the ventral tegmental area regulate behavioral responses to chronic stress.eLife · 2018Article
- Imaging the Role of Inflammation in Mood and Anxiety-related Disorders.Current neuropharmacology · 2018Review
- Backing into the future: pharmacological approaches to the management of resistant depression.Psychological medicine · 2017Review
- Inflammation Effects on Motivation and Motor Activity: Role of Dopamine.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2017Review
- Towards new mechanisms: an update on therapeutics for treatment-resistant major depressive disorder.Molecular psychiatry · 2015Review
- Pharmacological approaches to the challenge of treatment-resistant depression.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2015Review
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 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAntidepressants that act on two or more amine neurotransmitters may confer higher remission rates when first-line agents affecting a single neurotransmitter have failed. Pramipexole, a dopamine agonist, has antidepressant effects in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). This pilot study examined the efficacy and safety of combination therapy with pramipexole and the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) escitalopram in MDD.
methodsIn this double-blind, controlled, pilot study, 39 patients with DSM-IV MDD who had failed to respond to a standard antidepressant treatment trial were randomized to receive pramipexole (n=13), escitalopram (n=13), or their combination (n=13) for six weeks. Pramipexole was started at 0.375 mg/day and titrated weekly up to 2.25 mg/day; escitalopram dosage remained at 10 mg/day. The primary outcome measure was the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS).
resultsSubjects receiving pramipexole monotherapy had significantly lower MADRS scores than the combination group (p=0.01); no other primary drug comparisons were significant. The combination group had a substantially higher dropout rate than the escitalopram and pramipexole groups (69%, 15%, 15%, respectively). Only 15% of patients in the combination group tolerated regularly scheduled increases of pramipexole throughout the study, compared with 46% of patients in the pramipexole group. LIMITATIONS: Group size was small and the treatment phase lasted for only six weeks.
conclusionsThe combination of an SSRI and a dopamine agonist was not more effective than either agent alone, nor did it produce a more rapid onset of antidepressant action. Combination therapy with escitalopram and pramipexole may not be well-tolerated.
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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.