ArticlePsychological medicine2021
The relationship between antihypertensive medications and mood disorders: analysis of linked healthcare data for 1.8 million patients.
Article in Psychological medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- The relationship between renin-angiotensin system-modulating medication and depression: a systematic review.Translational psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Association between antihypertensive drug use and the risk of depression: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Journal of human hypertension · 2025Pooled it
- Genetic proxies for antihypertensive drugs and mental disorders: Mendelian randomization study in European and East Asian populations.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- The causal relationship between antihypertensive drugs and depression: a Mendelian randomization study of drug targets.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- Risk of antidepressant initiation among users of cardiovascular agents and metformin. Findings from the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) and Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD), Norway: Findings from the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) and Norwegian Prescription Database (NorPD), Norway.Pharmacology research & perspectives · 2023Article
- CACNA1C (CaNeuropharmacology · 2022Review
- Biases arising from linked administrative data for epidemiological research: a conceptual framework from registration to analyses.European journal of epidemiology · 2022Article
- Associations of Cardiovascular Agents and Metformin with Depression Symptoms: A Cross-Sectional Analysis from the HUNT Study, Norway.Drugs - real world outcomes · 2022Article
- Brain-penetrant calcium channel blockers are associated with a reduced incidence of neuropsychiatric disorders.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Article
- Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers and risk of depression among older people with hypertension.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2022Article
- Association Between Lipophilic Beta-Blockers and Depression in Diabetic Patients on Chronic Dialysis.Clinical medicine insights. Endocrinology and diabetes · 2022Article
- Onset and recurrence of psychiatric disorders associated with anti-hypertensive drug classes.Translational psychiatry · 2021Article
- Blood pressure in bipolar disorder: evidence of elevated pulse pressure and associations between mean pressure and mood instability.International journal of bipolar disorders · 2021Article
- Dietary fibre and the gut-brain axis: microbiota-dependent and independent mechanisms of action.Gut microbiome (Cambridge, England) · 2021Review
- Rates of delirium associated with calcium channel blockers compared to diuretics, renin-angiotensin system agents and beta-blockers: An electronic health records network study.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundRecent work suggests that antihypertensive medications may be useful as repurposed treatments for mood disorders. Using large-scale linked healthcare data we investigated whether certain classes of antihypertensive, such as angiotensin antagonists (AAs) and calcium channel blockers, were associated with reduced risk of new-onset major depressive disorder (MDD) or bipolar disorder (BD).
methodTwo cohorts of patients treated with antihypertensives were identified from Scottish prescribing (2009-2016) and hospital admission (1981-2016) records. Eligibility for cohort membership was determined by a receipt of a minimum of four prescriptions for antihypertensives within a 12-month window. One treatment cohort (n = 538 730) included patients with no previous history of mood disorder, whereas the other (n = 262 278) included those who did. Both cohorts were matched by age, sex and area deprivation to untreated comparators. Associations between antihypertensive treatment and new-onset MDD or bipolar episodes were investigated using Cox regression.
resultsFor patients without a history of mood disorder, antihypertensives were associated with increased risk of new-onset MDD. For AA monotherapy, the hazard ratio (HR) for new-onset MDD was 1.17 (95% CI 1.04-1.31). Beta blockers' association was stronger (HR 2.68; 95% CI 2.45-2.92), possibly indicating pre-existing anxiety. Some classes of antihypertensive were associated with protection against BD, particularly AAs (HR 0.46; 95% CI 0.30-0.70). For patients with a past history of mood disorders, all classes of antihypertensives were associated with increased risk of future episodes of MDD.
conclusionsThere was no evidence that antihypertensive medications prevented new episodes of MDD but AAs may represent a novel treatment avenue for BD.
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