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A specific anti-constipation drug, prucalopride, may reduce the risk of experiencing depression in individuals with no past history of mental illness, according to a new paper published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
A group of researchers from the University of Oxford, University College London and the University of Birmingham, supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre (OH BRC), used anonymised data from USA electronic health records and conducted a target trial comparing depression incidence over one year in individuals treated with prucalopride versus two alternative anti-constipation medications, linaclotide and lubiprostone .
It was found that treatment with prucalopride was associated with significantly lower incidence of depression in the following year compared to the other two medications.
Researchers say these findings support the requirement for further research to confirm if prucalopride can be used as a new class of antidepressant medication.
Lead author of the study, Dr Angharad De Cates, NIHR Clinical Lecturer at the Institute for Mental Health at the University of Birmingham and honorary member of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, said:
"This study adds to the growing evidence base that drugs affecting the serotonin-4 receptor (such as the common laxative, prucalopride) hold promise as a novel way to treat depression.
Alongside our previous data, this suggests that the next step is to consider large-scale clinical trials to assess if these medications can serve as a new class of antidepressants. The additional finding that prucalopride may help to reduce the risk of psychosis is very exciting, and we will investigate this with further research to see if these agents may have the potential for even broader clinical impact. ”
Senior author Dr Maxime Taquet, NIHR Clinical Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, said:
Using electronic health records, we were able to provide robust clues for the effectiveness of drugs with a new mechanism of action to treat or prevent depression. If replicated in a clinical trial, this would be very good news for patients as many of them don't benefit from existing treatments."