ReviewPharmacotherapy2025
Lithium Augmentation in Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Qualitative Review of the Literature.
Review in Pharmacotherapy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Reappraising lithium, triiodothyronine and second-generation antipsychotic augmentation treatment for major depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis with bias-adjustment analyses.BMJ mental health · 2026Pooled it
- Psychedelics in treatment-resistant depression: a comprehensive review of mechanisms, clinical evidence, and recommendations.Neuropsychiatrie : Klinik, Diagnostik, Therapie und Rehabilitation : Organ der Gesellschaft Osterreichischer Nervenarzte und Psychiater · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting people of all ages. Both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies are available for its treatment. However, some patients do not respond to first-line pharmacological interventions, referred to as treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Individuals with TRD face a significantly higher risk of mortality, including an increased risk of suicide. Additionally, TRD poses a substantial economic burden on health care systems. Various treatment options have been explored for TRD, including augmentation of an antidepressant through the use of an additional agent. Lithium salts have shown promising benefits in the TRD. Lithium requires close therapeutic monitoring due to its narrow therapeutic range, with well-defined thresholds for efficacy and toxicity, in addition to its pharmacokinetic characteristics. Furthermore, lithium has been associated with a reduced risk of mortality by lowering aggression, impulsivity, and suicide rates. Compared with other agents used in the management of TRD-such as atypical antidepressants, second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs), ketamine, and thyroid hormones-lithium is considered a cost-effective augmentation option, alongside other evidence-based strategies, and has a well-established efficacy profile. This literature review examines the role of lithium as an augmentation agent in TRD, with a focus on its pharmacological and clinical properties, as well as the current evidence supporting its use.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.