Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T07:13:11.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of tianeptine versus SSRI in the short-term treatment of depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

S. Kasper*
Affiliation:
Department of general Psychiatry, University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, A-1090Vienna, Austria
J.P. Olié
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry, hôpital Sainte-Anne, Paris, France
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address: sk@akh-wien.ac.at (S. Kasper).
Get access

Summary

A meta-analysis was performed to compare the efficacy of tianeptine and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) in the short-term treatment of depression. Consecutive selection and inclusion processes allowed five studies to be selected: two studies on tianeptine versus fluoxetine, two studies on tianeptine versus paroxetine, and one study on tianeptine versus sertraline. A total of 1348 patients were included in the five studies; 681 subjects received an SSRI and 667 tianeptine.

A strict step-by-step methodology was applied in order to legitimize this meta-analysis and to interpret the results. Considering all the patients or those with a Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) inclusion score greater than 28, none of the assessed parameters (MADRS total score and responder rate) revealed any significant difference between the two treatment groups. Further analysis based on clinical global impression (CGI) items found no significant difference, except for CGI item 3 (therapeutic index), where a tendency (P=0.06 or 0.07 depending on the methodology) was found in favor of tianeptine. All in all, this study confirmed that tianeptine is at least as effective as SSRI, with a trend for a better acceptability profile in the treatment of depressed patients.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

To be presented at ECNP Barcelona, 5-9 October 2002, during the symposium “A new pharmacology of depression: the concept of synaptic plasticity.”

References

Alby, JMFerreri, MCabane, Jde Bodinat, CDagens, VEfficacité de la tianeptine (Stablon) dans le traitement des dépressions majeures et des dysthymies avec plaintes somatiques. Étude comparée versus fluoxétine (Prozac). Ann Psychiatr 1993;8(Suppl 2):136144Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 3rd edition (DSM-III R). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Assocation; 1987.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Assocation; 1994.Google Scholar
Ashton, AKHamer, RRosen, RCSerotonin reuptake inhibitor-induced sexual dysfunction and its treatment: a large-scale retrospective study of 596 psychiatric outpatients. J Sex Marital Ther 1997;23(3):165175CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cassano, GBHeinze, GLôo, Het al. A double-blind comparison of tianeptine, imipramine and placebo in the treatment of major depressive episodes. Eur Psychiatry 1996;11:254259.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cochran, WGThe combination of estimates from different trials. Biometrics 1954;10:101129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costa e Silva, JARuschel, SPlacebo-controlled study of tianeptine in major depressive episodes. Neuropsychobiology 1997;35:2429.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dalery, JDagens-Lafont, Vde Bodinat, CIntérêt de la tianeptine dans le traitement des dépressions majeures unipolaires récurrentes. Étude versus placebo sur 16 mois et demie de traitement. Encéphale 1997;23(1):5664.Google Scholar
Delbende, CTranchand Bunel, DTarozzo, Get al. Effect of chronic treatment with the antidepressant tianeptine on the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis. Eur J Pharmacol 1994;251:245251.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dersimonian, RLaird, NMeta-analysis in clinical trials. Controlled Clin Trials 1986;7:177188.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ducrocq, FDépression et troubles de la fonction sexuelle. Encéphale 1999;25:515516.Google Scholar
Faltus, FNovotny, VRaboch, JZucha, ITianeptine for the treatment of major depressive episode: a double-blind study versus fluoxetine. Eur Psychiatry 2000;15(Suppl 2):419SCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guelfi, JDPichot, PDreyfus, JFEfficacy of tianeptine in anxious-depressed patients. Results of a controlled multicenter trial versus amitriptyline. Neuropsychobiology 1989;22:4148.Google ScholarPubMed
Guelfi, JDBouhassira, MBonett-Perrin, Eet al. Study of the efficacy of fluoxetine versus tianeptine in the treatment of elderly depressed patients followed in general practice 〚in French〛. Encéphale 1999;25:265270.Google Scholar
Guy, WECDEU. Assessment manual for psychopharmacology, revised edition Rockville, MD: US Department of Health, Education and Welfare;1976.Google Scholar
Holsboer, FBarden, NAntidepressants and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical regulation. Endocr Rev 1996;17:187205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kasper, SFuger, JMöller, HJComparative efficacy of antidepressants. Drugs 1992;43(Suppl 2):1123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kasper, SMöller, HJMontgomery, SZondag, EAntidepressant efficacy in relation to item analysis and severity of depression: a placebo-controlled trial of fluvoxamine versus imipramine. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 1995;9(Suppl 4):312CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kasper, SSchatzberg, AFuture directions in antidepressants and mood stabilizing agents. In: Buckley, PWaddington, J editors. Schizophrenia and mood disorders. The new drug therapies in clinical practice. Oxford: Butterworth & Heinemann; 2000. p. 212219Google Scholar
Lepine, JPAltamura, CAnsseau, Met al. Tianeptine and paroxetine in major depressive disorder, with a special focus on the anxious component in depression: an international, 6-week double-blind study. Human Psychopharmacol 2001;16:219227.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lôo, HMalka, RDefrance, Ret al. Tianeptine and amitriptyline controlled double-blind trial in depressed alcoholic patients. Neuropsychobiology 1988;19:7985.Google ScholarPubMed
Lôo, HSaiz-Ruiz, JCosta e Silva, JAet al. Double-blind study comparing tianeptine and fluoxetine in patients with depressive disorders (ICD-10) with or without somatic syndrome. J Affect Disord 1999;56:109118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magarinos, AMDeslandes, AMcEwen, BEffects of antidepressants and benzodiazepine treatments on the dendritic structure of CA3 pyramidal neurones after chronic stress. Eur J Pharmacol 1999;371:112122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montejo, ALLlorca, GIzquierdo, JAet al. SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction: fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline, and fluvoxamine in a prospective, multicenter, and descriptive clinical study of 344 patients. J Sex Marital Ther 1997;23(3)176194CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montejo, ALLlorca, GIzquierdo, JAet al. Incidence of sexual dysfunction associated with antidepressant agents: a prospective multicenter study of 1022 outpatients. J Clin Psychiatry 2001;62(Suppl 3):1021Google ScholarPubMed
Montgomery, SAAsberg, AA new depression scale designed to be sensitive to change. Br J Psychiatry 1979;134:382389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Searle, SRCassella, GMcCulloch, CEVariance components. New York: John Wiley and Sons; 1992.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Szádóczky, EFüredi, JEfficacy and acceptability of tianeptine and sertraline in acute treatment phase of depression. Neuropsychopharmacol Hung 2000;2(4):171177Google Scholar
Waintraub, LSeptien, LAzoulay, PEfficacy and safety of tianeptine in major depression: evidence from a 3-month controlled clinical trial versus paroxetine. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2000;10(Suppl 2):S51Google Scholar
Whitehead, AJA general parametric approach to the meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Stat M 1991;10:16651677.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
World Heath Organization. International classification of disease 10th edition. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 1995.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.