Anti-constipation drug could reduce risk of depression
Study finds that serotonin 4 receptor agonist licenced as laxative led to lower incidence of depression compared to two alternative drugs
Patients who have taken a licenced drug for constipation have had fewer incidences of depression compared to other types of similar drugs, leading to hopes that the medicine could be used to treat major depressive disorder.
In a new paper published in BJPsych it is suggested that a specific anti-constipation drug, prucalopride (which is also known as Resolor) may reduce the risk of experiencing depression in individuals with no past history of mental illness.
A group of researchers from University of Oxford , University College London and University of Birmingham supported by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, used anonymised data from USA electronic health records and conducted a target trial comparing depression incidence over 1 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.
Lead researcher on the study, NIHR Clinical Lecturer at the Institute for Mental Health at the University of Birmingham and Visiting Clinical Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford Angharad de Cates 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.”
These findings support the requirement for further research to confirm if prucalopride can be used as a new class of antidepressant medication.
You can read the full article on the British Journal of Psychiatry website.
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Notes for editors
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