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Improvement in depression with oestrogen treatment in women with schizophrenia

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Abstract

Women with schizophrenia are often noted to suffer with comorbid depression. Many studies have shown associations between fluctuating oestrogen levels in the brain and mental illness. This study investigates the effect of oestradiol treatment on comorbid depressive symptoms in women with schizophrenia. This study is an 8-week, three-arm, double-blind, randomised-controlled trial. The 180 female participants were aged between 18 and 45, with schizophrenia and ongoing symptoms of psychosis Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) score > 60 despite a stable dose of antipsychotic medication. Depressive symptoms were assessed using Montgomery Asberg Depression Scale (MADRS) with a mean score of 73.77 at baseline. Participants received transdermal oestradiol 200 μg or transdermal oestradiol 100 μg or an identical placebo patch. The a priori outcome measure was the change in PANSS score measured at baseline and days 7, 14, 28 and 56, but in this study, we focused on the change in MADRS score at the same time points. Data were analysed by using Quade’s rank analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) (Huitema 1980) with baseline MADRS score as a covariate. We found a fluctuating but overall trend towards improvement of comorbid depressive symptoms in women with schizophrenia taking transdermal oestrogen 200 mcg compared with oestrogen 100 mcg or placebo. The stronger ‘antidepressant’ effect of 200 mcg transdermal oestradiol was found at day 28 (p = 0.03). Our study suggests that adjunctive oestradiol treatment for depression may be a promising treatment for women with comorbid depression and schizophrenia.

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Funding

This study was funded by the Stanley Medical Research Institute (grant number 05T-742).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain

    M. Bové Lascurain

  2. Parc Sanitari Sant Joan De Deu (PSSJD), Sant Boi De Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain

    A. Camuñas-Palacín

  3. The Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred and Monash University Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

    N. Thomas, C. Breadon, E. Gavrilidis, A. R. Hudaib, C. Gurvich & J. Kulkarni

Authors
  1. M. Bové Lascurain
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  2. A. Camuñas-Palacín
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  3. N. Thomas
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  4. C. Breadon
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  5. E. Gavrilidis
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  6. A. R. Hudaib
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  7. C. Gurvich
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  8. J. Kulkarni
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Kulkarni.

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Conflict of interest

Authors M. Bové Lascurain, A. Camuñas-Palacín, N. Thomas, C. Breadon, E. Gavrilidis, A. R. Hudaib and C. Gurvich declare that he/she has no conflict of interest. Author H has received grants from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Centre, government grants and has received research grants from pharmaceutical companies plus honoraria to deliver educational sessions for medical practitioners. The data in this manuscript was collected in a trial of adjunctive oestradiol in women with schizophrenia that was funded by the Stanley Medical Research Institute, Washington, USA. The study was devised by Author H and analysed by the team of authors on this manuscript. There was no input from the funding group—the SMRI.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Lascurain, M.B., Camuñas-Palacín, A., Thomas, N. et al. Improvement in depression with oestrogen treatment in women with schizophrenia. Arch Womens Ment Health 23, 149–154 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-019-00959-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-019-00959-3

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