Does estrogen enhance the antidepressant effects of fluoxetine?
BACKGROUND
While hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has not been shown to be an effective treatment for major depression, preliminary studies suggest that estrogen may potentiate the effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.


METHODS
In an ongoing study, perimenopausal women diagnosed with major depression were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions: (1) fluoxetine 10-20 mg alone, (2) estradiol patch 0.1-0.2 mg alone or (3) the combination of fluoxetine 10-20 mg and estradiol patch 0.1-0.2 mg.


RESULTS
In the five cases presented here, the combination of fluoxetine and estradiol was most effective, followed by fluoxetine alone and then estradiol alone.


CONCLUSIONS
These are selected cases from an ongoing study and do not represent statistically significant data.


CONCLUSIONS
These preliminary cases suggest that estrogen can enhance the efficacy of antidepressant medication in menopausal women and this adjunctive treatment strategy may be superior to antidepressant or estrogen alone. Further research is needed in elucidating the mechanisms by which estrogen may enhance antidepressant action in perimenopausal women.
Westlund Tam
Leslie
L
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, UCSD 0804, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, San Diego, CA 92093-0804, USA.
Parry
Barbara L
BL
D002979:Climacteric / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004357:Drug Synergism; D004958:Estradiol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy; D005260:Female; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D004958:Estradiol; D005473:Fluoxetine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors