Vitamin C as an adjuvant for treating major depressive disorder and suicidal behavior, a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial
What this study found
Vitamin C did not improve depressive symptoms or suicidal behavior beyond citalopram alone. HDRS improvement was similar in both groups, with a 60.0% decline in the vitamin C group versus 59.2% in the placebo group, and the between-group difference was not significant (P = .5; time by group interaction P = .6; endpoint difference t = -.3, df = 41, P = .6). Remission and complete response rates were also similar (remission 35.0% vs 36.4%, P = .4; complete response 48.5% vs 51.5%, P = .8), and suicidal behavior scores declined comparably. The combination was well tolerated, with no serious…
- Study & population
- Randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial in adult outpatients with major depressive disorder diagnosed by DSM-IV criteria in Shiraz, Iran.
- Intervention
- Adults with major depressive disorder received oral citalopram as background treatment, with the active arm also receiving vitamin C up to 1,000 mg/day for 8 weeks.
- Key limitation
- The trial was short, single-center, and likely underpowered to detect modest adjunctive effects.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
BackgroundThere are some animal studies suggesting the possible role of vitamin C for treating depression. However, the efficacy of vitamin C for treating adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) has never been examined.MethodsThis 8-week randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial included adult patients with major depressive disorder according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Twenty-one patients in the treatment group received citalopram plus vitamin C and the 22 patients in the control group received citalopram plus placebo. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale was used to measure depressive symptoms at baseline, week 2, week 4, and week 8. We also checked for the presence of adverse effects.ResultsWhile depression symptoms decreased in both groups during this trial, there was no statistically significant difference between the 2 groups (P = .5). The rate of remission, partial response, and complete response was not different between the two groups. The rate of adverse effects were not different between the two groups.ConclusionAdding vitamin C to citalopram did not increase the efficacy of citalopram in MDD patients. Vitamin C plus citalopram is as effective as placebo plus citalopram for treating adult patients with suicidal behavior. No serious adverse effect for this combination was identified during this trial.Trial registrationThis trial was registered at http://www.irct.ir. The registration number of this trial was: IRCT201312263930N31. Date registered: 5 July 2014.