Augmentation, inflammation and depression

Augmentation strategies are used when people fail to respond to conventional antidepressants. They involve the use of other drugs - which are not antidepressants - alongside people's primary medication. Over the last twenty years research has suggested that inflammation and interactions between the nervous system and the immune system could play a part in the origins of depression and anti-inflammatory drugs have been suggested as possible candidates for drugs that could be used as part of an augmentation strategy. Researchers in Tehran studied the effect of using the anti-inflammatory drug celecoxib as a supplement to the antidepressant fluoxetine. They divided 40 participants into two groups. One group took fluoxetine and celecoxib while the other group took fluoxetine and a placebo. Both groups showed an improvement over the six weeks of the study but the group taking celecoxib did significantly better. There were no differences in side effects between the two groups.

Akhondzadeh, Shahin ... [et al] - Clinical trial of adjunctive celecoxib treatment in patients with major depression: a double-blind and placebo-controlled trial Depression and Anxiety July 2009, 26(7), 607-611