Riluzole in the Treatment of Bipolar Depression

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Bipolar Depression

In brief

Bipolar disorder is a common and often chronic and debilitating mental illness. The depressive phase of bipolar disorder contributes the largest portion of the disorder, and treatment resistant bipolar depression represents a significant public health problem. Recent research has suggested that bipolar depression is associated with elevated brain glutamate activity. We hypothesize that riluzole, a drug approved for ALS which inhibits glutamate activity, will lead to clinical improvement in patients with bipolar depression.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT00544544

Run by

Mclean Hospital

People needed

14

Starts

2007-06-01

Expected to finish

2009-07-01

Last updated by the study team

2018-08-07

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 65. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Male or female age 18-65
• Meets DSM-IV criteria for Bipolar Disorder and is currently depressed
• Current score of >/= 18 on the Hamilton Depression Scale

You may not qualify if…

• Active psychotic/manic symptoms
• Lifetime history of schizophrenia or obsessive compulsive disorder
• Clinically significant medical disease
• Women who are pregnant or lactating and women who are not using a medically accepted method of contraception.

Where it is running

• McLean Hospital — Belmont, Massachusetts, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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