Blood sample - NIHR Cambridge BRC image

Testing whether an anti-inflammatory drug can help people with depression

Blood sample - NIHR Cambridge BRC image

Following research evidence that some patients with depression have increased levels of inflammation, researchers want to see if an anti-inflammatory medicine has the potential to treat patients suffering from depression who have not responded to their current medications.

In a nationwide study led from Cambridge, researchers will be testing a new anti-inflammatory drug, specifically designed to reduce levels of inflammation in the brain. Patients with depression will be asked to take the new drug or a placebo (a pill that is inactive) in addition to their regular anti-depressant medication for 8 weeks.

Researchers will then measure whether the new anti-inflammatory drug reduces depressive symptoms by asking participants to complete questionnaires. They will also collect blood and saliva samples, and take images of the brain using MRI, to understand more precisely how the drug works on the immune system and the brain.

This study is currently running in Cambridge and will shortly also be open for recruitment in London, Oxford, Cardiff and Glasgow. It is due to finish in 2022.

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