This week we look at what cariprazine can do, a revealing B12 deficiency case, and a provocative letter on research language limits.
Cariprazine Appears to Help Treat Depression and Anxiety
The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry has published a new analysis that reveals the potential of cariprazine as a potent adjunctive treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), particularly those struggling with anxiety. MDD typically resists standard antidepressant therapies, and many of those same patients also suffer from clinically significant anxiety.
In this particular trial, nearly half of the MDD patients met the criteria for “anxious depression,” which is linked to poorer treatment outcomes and slower recovery.
Cariprazine – a dopamine-serotonin partial agonist that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved as an add-on to antidepressants – has shown promise in curbing both depressive and anxiety symptoms.
In a pair of randomized controlled trials, MDD patients who hadn’t responded well to antidepressants showed dramatically better depression scores after cariprazine treatment (especially at the 1.5 mg dose).
Further analysis revealed that cariprazine also alleviated anxiety symptoms, even in patients with severe baseline anxiety. Better yet, cariprazine didn’t make anxiety worse in patients without baseline symptoms, and with lower sedation levels compared to other atypical antipsychotics.
These findings suggest that maybe cariprazine could fill a huge gap in treating patients with MDD and comorbid anxiety, who often require complex, multi-symptom management. Clinicians might consider this as a dual-target option for managing anxious depression.
IN OTHER PSYCHIATRY AND NEUROLOGY NEWS
- The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders published a report about an elderly woman who developed delusional parasitosis after long-term use of methylphenidate.
- JCP also reports this week on a national study that shows that defense mechanisms appear to be more prevalent and maladaptive in individuals with psychiatric disorders, but aren’t specific to any single diagnosis.
- Another PCC case study illustrates how borderline vitamin B12 deficiency can present with isolated neuropsychiatric symptoms — such as delusions, pain, and cognitive decline—even without the traditional symptoms.
- JCP published a letter to the editor this week that criticizes recent restrictions on research language by funding bodies, arguing that such limitations hinder essential mental health research.
- And, last but not least, we have the latest in our “Emerging Approaches in Schizophrenia” series.
