Recruiting

Anxious Depression

Sponsor:

University of Cincinnati

Code:

NCT04245748

Conditions

Anxious Depression

Depression

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 50

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Escitalopram

Duloxetine

Study Details

Brief summary:

Acute, double-blind, adaptively randomized treatment with duloxetine or escitalopram, followed by double-blind, randomized adjunctive treatment with clonazepam or pregabalin for persistent symptoms.

Conditions

Anxious Depression

Depression

Study ID

NCT04245748

Start date

Mar 1, 2020

Status verified date

Aug, 2024

Completion date

Dec 31, 2025

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jul 30, 2025

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 50

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Written, informed consent.
  • Patients must be fluent in the English.
  • 18 to 50 years of age, inclusive, at Visit 1.
  • Patients must meet DSM-5 criteria for generalized, social and/or separation anxiety disorder and/or panic disorder, confirmed by the MINI.99 Patients may also meet criteria for persistent depressive disorder or major depressive disorder however, these may not be the primary focus of treatment.
  • HAM-A score ≥20 at Visits 1 and 2.
  • Clinical Global Impressions- Severity (CGI-S) score ≥4 at Visits 1 and 2.
  • No clinically significant abnormalities on physical examination and EKG.
  • Negative pregnancy test at Visit 1 in females.
  • Negative urine drug screen at Visit 1.
  • Sexually active patients must practice a reliable method of contraception (Section 15.0) that will continue for the duration of the study and for a minimum of 30 days following the end of study participation. Reliable methods of contraception are defined below; other forms of contraceptives (pharmacological and/or non-pharmacological) are not accepted:

1. Surgical sterilization
2. Oral contraceptives (e.g. estrogren-progestin combination or progestin)
3. Transdermally-delivered contraceptives (e.g., Ortho-Evra), depot injections (e.g., Depo-Provera)
4. Vaginal contraceptive ring (e.g., NuvaRing), contraceptive implants (e.g., Implanon, Norplant II/Jadelle)
5. An intrauterine device
6. Diaphragm plus condom.
  • For patients directly enrolling into Phase 2: treatment with escitalopram (or its racemic equivalent citalopram) or duloxetine for ≥6 weeks, at time of screening.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • DSM-5 diagnosis other than generalized anxiety, social anxiety, separation anxiety or panic disorder(s) that is the primary focus of treatment.
  • A history of intellectual disability.
  • Suicide risk as determined by either: (1) any suicide attempt within the past 6 months and/or (2) significant risk at Visit 1 (Screening) or Visit 2 (Baseline), as judged by the Investigator.
  • Allergy, intolerance, non-response or hypersensitivity to escitalopram, duloxetine, pregabalin or clonazepam.
  • Subjects taking other medications that require a taper or washout of more than 5 days.
  • Patients who have initiated/terminated psychotherapy/behavior therapy within 1 month before Visit 2 (Baseline) will be excluded; if the patient is engaged in psychotherapy, it must have been stable for 1 month prior to baseline.
  • A clinically-significant medical illness.
  • QTc >450 in males or >460 in females (prolonged QTc based on American Heart Association recommendations for Standardization and Interpretation of the EKG100
  • Alcohol or substance use disorder within 6 months of baseline (nicotine use is permitted).
  • Positive urine pregnancy test/pregnancy or breast feeding.
  • A positive urine drug screen.
  • Patients who are unable to swallow capsules.

Study Design

Enrollment

84 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

active comparator: Escitalopram

Adaptively randomized, double-blind treatment with escitalopram for 11 weeks in Phase 1. Non-remitting patients will be randomized in Phase 2 to adjunctive clonazepam or pregabalin for 8 weeks. Additionally, adults who are already treated with escitalopram or citalopram for at least 6 weeks prior to screening, may enter Phase 2 and be randomized to adjunctive clonazepam or pregabalin for 8 weeks.

active comparator: Duloxetine

Adaptively randomized, double-blind treatment with duloxetine for 11 weeks in Phase 1. Non-remitting patients will be randomized in Phase 2 to adjunctive clonazepam or pregabalin for 8 weeks. Additionally, adults who are already treated with duloxetine for at least 6 weeks prior to screening, may enter Phase 2 and be randomized to adjunctive clonazepam or pregabalin for 8 weeks.

Interventions

Escitalopram

Escitalopram, a SSRI, commercially known as LexaproTM, is commonly prescribed for anxiety disorders and is FDA-approved for acute and maintenance treatment of MDD and GAD.

Duloxetine

Duloxetine, a SNRI, commercially known as CymbaltaTM, is FDA-approved for the treatment of GAD, MDD, diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, and chronic musculoskeletal pain in adults.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change from Baseline in Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) total score [ Time Frame: Week 2 to 20 ]
  • Change from Baseline in the Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-S) [ Time Frame: Week 2 to 20 ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Locations

University of Cincinnati, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience

Recruiting

Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, 45219

Contacts

Jeffrey R Strawn, MD, FAACAP

513-558-4315strawnjr@ucmail.uc.edu

Heidi K Schroeder, BS

(513) 558-4422heysehk@uc.edu

More Information

Sponsor

University of Cincinnati

Last update posted

Aug 29, 2024

Last verified

Aug, 2024

Keywords

  • Anxious Depression

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Cincinnati on 2024-08-29.