Evaluating the Efficacy of Adjunctive Minocycline for the Treatment of Bipolar Depression
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2014-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Long-term studies have emphasized that depressive symptoms and episodes account for majority
of the illness burden experienced by individuals with bipolar disorder (BD). Previous studies
have shown that blood levels of proteins called pro-inflammatory cytokines are abnormal in
individuals with bipolar depression. The investigators hypothesize that preventing the
production or release of pro-inflammatory cytokines will result in improvement of depressive
symptoms in individuals with bipolar depression. Minocycline is a medication that inhibits
the activation of immune cells (i.e. microglia) in the brain and reduces the production of
pro-inflammatory cytokines. Treatment with minocycline has been shown to have
antidepressant-like effects in animal studies and improve symptoms of individuals with
schizophrenia. In this study, minocycline (100 mg twice a day) will be administered for 8
weeks to determine if it is an efficacious antidepressant for individuals with bipolar
depression.