Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32638035›Full record

Trial reportPsychopharmacology2020

The effects of acute serotonin challenge on executive planning in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), their first-degree relatives, and healthy controls.

Christine Lochner, Samuel R Chamberlain, Martin Kidd, Lian Taljaard, Naomi A Fineberg, Trevor W Robbins, Dan J Stein

Open access · greenAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 24% 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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Atypical action updating in a dynamic environment associated with adolescent obsessive-compulsive disorder.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2022
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
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

7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Christine LochnerSAMRC Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa. cl2@sun.ac.za.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4766-3704
Samuel R ChamberlainDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Martin KiddCentre for Statistical Consultation, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Sciences, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Lian TaljaardSAMRC Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Naomi A FinebergNational Treatment Service for OCD, Hertfordshire, UK.
Trevor W RobbinsDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Dan J SteinSAMRC Unit on Risk & Resilience in Mental Disorders, Department of Psychiatry & Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
South African Medical Research Council · ZAUniversity of Cambridge · GBStellenbosch University · ZAUniversity of Hertfordshire · GB

Funding

Wellcome Trust 110049Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellowship 110049/Z/15/ZWellcome Trust Grant 146301/Z/14/Z/
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

rationaleObsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by executive function impairment and by clinical responsivity to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Executive planning deficits constitute a candidate endophenotype for OCD. It is not known whether this endophenotype is responsive to acute serotonin manipulation.

objectiveThe study aimed to investigate the effects of acute SSRI administration on executive function in patients with OCD, first-degree relatives of patients with OCD, and healthy controls.

methodsA randomized double-blind cross-over study assessed the effects of single-dose escitalopram (20 mg) and placebo on executive planning in 24 patients with OCD, 13 clinically unaffected first-degree relatives of patients with OCD, and 28 healthy controls. Performance on a Tower of London task measuring executive planning was assessed 4 h after oral administration of the pharmacological challenge/placebo and compared across and within groups using a mixed model analysis of variance.

resultsOn the outcome measure of interest, i.e., the mean number of choices to obtain the correct solution, there was a marginally significant effect of group (F(2, 59) = 3.1; p = 0.052), with patients (least square (LS) mean 1.43; standard error [SE] 0.06; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.31-1.55) and their relatives (LS mean 1.46; SE 0.08; 95% CI, 1.30-1.62) performing worse than matched healthy controls (LS mean 1.26; SE 0.05; 95% CI, 1.15-1.37) on placebo. There was a trend towards a significant group × treatment interaction (F(2, 58) = 2.8, p = 0.069), with post hoc tests showing (i) patients (p = 0.009; LS mean difference 0.23; SE 0.08) and relatives (p = 0.03; LS mean difference 0.22; SE 0.10) were more impaired compared to controls and (ii) escitalopram was associated with improved executive planning in patients with OCD (p = 0.013; LS mean difference 0.1; SE 0.04), but not other groups (both p > 0.1; controls: LS mean difference - 0.03; SE 0.04; relatives: LS mean difference 0.02; SE 0.05).

conclusionOur findings are consistent with a view that there is impaired executive planning in OCD and that this constitutes a behavioural endophenotype. In patients with OCD, but not in relatives, acute SSRI administration ameliorated this deficit. Further investigation is needed to understand common and differential involvement of neurochemical systems in patients with OCD and their relatives.

Indexed as

AdultAttentionCitalopramCross-Over StudiesDouble-Blind MethodExecutive FunctionFamilyFemaleHealthy VolunteersHumansMaleMental Status and Dementia TestsMiddle AgedObsessive-Compulsive DisorderSelective Serotonin Reuptake InhibitorsSerotoninCitalopramSelective Serotonin Reuptake InhibitorsSerotoninEndophenotypeEscitalopramExecutive functionsObsessive–compulsive disorderPharmacological challengeSerotonin

Identifiers

PMID32638035
PMCPMC7116135
OpenAlexW3042174971

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.