Mifepristone Treatment for Patients With Non-psychotic Major Depressive Disorder Receiving Bilateral ECT
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2009-04-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The purpose of this study is to see whether the medication mifepristone is an effective and
tolerable treatment for increasing the clinical effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy
(ECT) and protecting cognitive function during ECT. Both Mifepristone and ECT appear to
normalize hyperfunctioning of the hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which has been
found among patients with major depression referred for ECT. The combination of these two
treatments in major depression may lead to a more rapid clinical response than ECT alone.
Additionally, there appears to be a connection between pre-ECT higher cortisol levels due to
HPA axis hyperfunctioning and post-ECT cognitive impairment. Administration of mifepristone
prior to and during ECT treatment may reduce cortisol levels and reduce the incidence of
cognitive impairment observed after ECT.