Proton MRS Study of SSRI-Zolpidem Interactions
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01809626. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
The primary goal of this single-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects, double-scan, one-visit neuroimaging study is to examine the effects of the hypnotic zolpidem (Ambien®) in individuals who are maintained on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for the treatment of major depressive disorder. Specifically, levels of the brain chemical GABA will be examined in the anterior cingulate and thalamus, two brain regions that play important roles in mediating some of the effects of depression and sleep-related drugs, respectively. Depressed individuals typically have lower levels of GABA than the healthy population, and antidepressant treatment has been shown to help normalize this neurochemical in conjunction with improved mood. Given that individuals maintained on SSRIs often are prescribed sedative/hypnotics to treat concurrent insomnia, understanding a possible neurochemical interaction between them, whether beneficial or harmful, is important for informing evidence-based treatment strategies to treat the co-morbid patient. Zolpidem's effects on GABA in participants who are maintained on SSRIs will be compared to baseline GABA levels in these individuals (i.e., following placebo administration). Two separate scanning sessions lasting approximately 45-60 min each will take place within one single study visit in order to obtain these measurements using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS). This type of neuroimaging is like an MRI in that it is non-invasive, but it permits us to obtain information about chemicals in the brain. A secondary goal of this study is to compare the subjective drug effects, or how individuals feel, following the intervention. These measures will be used to determine the existence of brain-behavior relationships in order to assess the extent to which modulating GABA with zolpidem has effects on mood states in depressed participants. Collectively, this study will contribute to our understanding of how these drugs exert their effects when one is administered in the presence of the other, and it will demonstrate that imaging is an important tool for informing us about how drug effects in the brain ultimately result in behavior.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT01809626
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Early Phase 1
- Enrollment
- 14 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 21 Years to 40 Years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Apr 30, 2010
- Primary completion
- Aug 31, 2012
- Completion
- Nov 30, 2012
- Last update posted
- Mar 12, 2013
2010 – 2012
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McLean Hospital | Belmont | Massachusetts | 02478 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT01809626, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Mar 12, 2013 · Synced Sep 11, 2026
Related: full search, browse by condition, browse by drug or therapy, browse by sponsor, browse by U.S. city.
Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT01809626 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.