| Project title |
Clinical, genetic and peripheral predictors of outcome after ECT for severe depression |
| Summary |
About 1 in 7 people will suffer depression at some time during their life. In severe depression, the illness is incapacitating and people become increasingly hopeless and may commit suicide. It has been estimated that depression costs the European Union €118 billion per year. Indeed, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that by the year 2020 depression will be the second largest contributor to the global burden of disease.
Up to 30% of patients find no relief from medication or psychotherapy even after multiple strategies have been tried. Of note, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) gives up to 70% of these patients complete recovery within 3-4 weeks. ECT is the most acutely effective treatment for severe treatment-resistant depression. However, patients and clinicians have concerns about ECT’s memory side-effects, so efforts are underway to refine ECT.
We cannot yet confidently predict who will have a successful treatment or who will have memory problems. The aim of this research is to develop new ways to identify, before treatment even begins, patients at risk of memory side-effects and patients who will benefit the most from ECT. To this end, we will examine severely depressed patients referred for ECT. These patient volunteers have neuropsychological assessments focusing on verbal and working memory along with clinical assessments of depression. Patient volunteers also give blood samples for the analysis of RNA in peripheral leukocytes and DNA for candidate polymorphisms. The research aims to use peripheral markers of inflammation as well as genetic and neuropsychological predictors of cognitive function to personalise treatment for this vulnerable patient group.
The research project will be conducted under the Supervision of Professor Declan McLoughlin at the Depression Neurobiology Research Group, in conjunction with an already running randomised controlled trial comparing two forms of ECT. (The EFFECT-Dep Trial ISCRTN 23577151)
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| Funding Agency |
Health Research Board, Ireland |
| Programme |
HRB Research Training Fellowship |
| Type of Project |
Translational Research |
| Date from |
1/7/10 |
| Date to |
31/6/12 |
| Person Months |
24 |
|
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Ross Dunne, Meta-Analysis, World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 2011
Url
DOI |
Ross A. Dunne, Declan M. McLoughlin, Regional Variation in Electroconvulsive Therapy Use, Irish Medical Journal, 104, (3), 2011, p84 - 87
Url TARA - Full Text |
Dunne R, Kavanagh A, McLoughlin DM, Electroconvulsive therapy, capacity and the law in Ireland., Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 26, 2009, p3-5
Notes: [Editorial]
Url TARA - Full Text |
| Electroconvulsive therapy and therapeutic neuromodulation in, editor(s)Pádraig Wright MRCPsych , Core Psychiatry, London, Elsevier, 2010, ppxxx - xxx, [Ross Dunne, Declan M. McLoughlin] |
| ECT prescribing and practice in, Andrew Easton , Royal College of Psychiatrists Report on ECT 3rd edition, London, Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2010, ppxxxx - xxxx, [Ross Dunne, Declan M. McLoughlin] |
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Last Updated:16-MAY-2012 |