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An online experimental medicine trial on the effect of 28-day simvastatin administration on emotional processing, reward learning, working memory and salivary cortisol in healthy volunteers at risk for depression: OxSTEP protocol
BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests inflammation may be a key mechanism by which psychosocial stress, including loneliness, predisposes to depression. Observational and clinical studies have suggested simvastatin, with its anti-inflammatory properties, may have a potential use in the treatment of depressi...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Cambridge University Press
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10304861/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37313755 http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.44 |
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author | Waters, Shona De Giorgi, Riccardo Quinton, Alice M. G. Gillespie, Amy L. Murphy, Susannah E. Cowen, Philip J. Harmer, Catherine J. |
author_facet | Waters, Shona De Giorgi, Riccardo Quinton, Alice M. G. Gillespie, Amy L. Murphy, Susannah E. Cowen, Philip J. Harmer, Catherine J. |
author_sort | Waters, Shona |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests inflammation may be a key mechanism by which psychosocial stress, including loneliness, predisposes to depression. Observational and clinical studies have suggested simvastatin, with its anti-inflammatory properties, may have a potential use in the treatment of depression. Previous experimental medicine trials investigating 7-day use of statins showed conflicting results, with simvastatin displaying a more positive effect on emotional processing compared with atorvastatin. It is possible that statins require longer administration in predisposed individuals before showing the expected positive effects on emotional processing. AIMS: Here, we aim to test the neuropsychological effects of 28-day simvastatin administration versus placebo, in healthy volunteers at risk for depression owing to loneliness. METHOD: This is a remote experimental medicine study. One hundred participants across the UK will be recruited and randomised to either 28-day 20 mg simvastatin or placebo in a double-blind fashion. Before and after administration, participants will complete an online testing session involving tasks of emotional processing and reward learning, processes related to vulnerability to depression. Working memory will also be assessed and waking salivary cortisol samples will be collected. The primary outcome will be accuracy in identifying emotions in a facial expression recognition task, comparing the two groups across time. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10304861 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Cambridge University Press |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-103048612023-06-29 An online experimental medicine trial on the effect of 28-day simvastatin administration on emotional processing, reward learning, working memory and salivary cortisol in healthy volunteers at risk for depression: OxSTEP protocol Waters, Shona De Giorgi, Riccardo Quinton, Alice M. G. Gillespie, Amy L. Murphy, Susannah E. Cowen, Philip J. Harmer, Catherine J. BJPsych Open Paper BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests inflammation may be a key mechanism by which psychosocial stress, including loneliness, predisposes to depression. Observational and clinical studies have suggested simvastatin, with its anti-inflammatory properties, may have a potential use in the treatment of depression. Previous experimental medicine trials investigating 7-day use of statins showed conflicting results, with simvastatin displaying a more positive effect on emotional processing compared with atorvastatin. It is possible that statins require longer administration in predisposed individuals before showing the expected positive effects on emotional processing. AIMS: Here, we aim to test the neuropsychological effects of 28-day simvastatin administration versus placebo, in healthy volunteers at risk for depression owing to loneliness. METHOD: This is a remote experimental medicine study. One hundred participants across the UK will be recruited and randomised to either 28-day 20 mg simvastatin or placebo in a double-blind fashion. Before and after administration, participants will complete an online testing session involving tasks of emotional processing and reward learning, processes related to vulnerability to depression. Working memory will also be assessed and waking salivary cortisol samples will be collected. The primary outcome will be accuracy in identifying emotions in a facial expression recognition task, comparing the two groups across time. Cambridge University Press 2023-06-14 /pmc/articles/PMC10304861/ /pubmed/37313755 http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.44 Text en © The Author(s) 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Paper Waters, Shona De Giorgi, Riccardo Quinton, Alice M. G. Gillespie, Amy L. Murphy, Susannah E. Cowen, Philip J. Harmer, Catherine J. An online experimental medicine trial on the effect of 28-day simvastatin administration on emotional processing, reward learning, working memory and salivary cortisol in healthy volunteers at risk for depression: OxSTEP protocol |
title | An online experimental medicine trial on the effect of 28-day simvastatin administration on emotional processing, reward learning, working memory and salivary cortisol in healthy volunteers at risk for depression: OxSTEP protocol |
title_full | An online experimental medicine trial on the effect of 28-day simvastatin administration on emotional processing, reward learning, working memory and salivary cortisol in healthy volunteers at risk for depression: OxSTEP protocol |
title_fullStr | An online experimental medicine trial on the effect of 28-day simvastatin administration on emotional processing, reward learning, working memory and salivary cortisol in healthy volunteers at risk for depression: OxSTEP protocol |
title_full_unstemmed | An online experimental medicine trial on the effect of 28-day simvastatin administration on emotional processing, reward learning, working memory and salivary cortisol in healthy volunteers at risk for depression: OxSTEP protocol |
title_short | An online experimental medicine trial on the effect of 28-day simvastatin administration on emotional processing, reward learning, working memory and salivary cortisol in healthy volunteers at risk for depression: OxSTEP protocol |
title_sort | online experimental medicine trial on the effect of 28-day simvastatin administration on emotional processing, reward learning, working memory and salivary cortisol in healthy volunteers at risk for depression: oxstep protocol |
topic | Paper |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10304861/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37313755 http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.44 |
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