Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42214294›Full record

Trial reportNeuroImage. Clinical2026

Effects of antidepressant medications on brain tissue microstructure in persistent depressive disorder across two randomized controlled trials.

Ravi Bansal, David J Hellerstein, Siddhant Sawardekar, Ying Chen, Bradley S Peterson

2 registry-linked trialsAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in NeuroImage. Clinical, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT00360724 phase4completednot on this map

Duloxetine for Chronic Depression: a Double-blind Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorNew York State Psychiatric InstituteRan2006 to 2013Enrolled65ConditionsDysthymic Disorder, Depressive Disorder NOSArmsDuloxetine (Cymbalta)
NCT01537068 phase4completednot on this map

Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) vs. Placebo in the Treatment of Chronic Depression

TypeinterventionalSponsorNew York State Psychiatric InstituteRan2012 to 2016Enrolled59ConditionsDysthymic Disorder, Dysthymia, Chronic Depressive DisorderArmsDesvenlafaxine, Placebo
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Ravi BansalDepartment of Psychiatry, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Institute for the Developing Mind, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: rabansal@chla.usc.edu.
David J HellersteinDepression Evaluation Service, Division of Clinical Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Siddhant SawardekarInstitute for the Developing Mind, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Ying ChenDepression Evaluation Service, Division of Clinical Therapeutics, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Bradley S PetersonDepartment of Psychiatry, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Institute for the Developing Mind, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPrior studies have reported abnormalities in brain volumes and white matter microarchitecture in persistent depressive disorder(PDD). Randomized controlled trials(RCTs) yoked with brain MRIs are needed to discern whether medications change tissue microstructure in patients with persistent depressive disorder(PDD).

methodsWe conducted two double-blind, RCTs of duloxetine and desvenlafaxine for treating PDD and collected prospective, longitudinal diffusion tensor imaging(DTI) data and clinical assessments at baseline and upon trial completion in 41 duloxetine and 39 desvenlafaxine patients. Data were combined across the two trials to increase statistical power. DTI data were also acquired once in 35 healthy controls. Fractional anisotropy and average diffusivity maps were computed to assess tissue microstructure. We hypothesized that medications would normalize gray and white matter microstructure within the limbic system.

resultsDuloxetine and desvenlafaxine had unique treatment effects on tissue microstructure in the dorsal prefrontal cortex, especially in the superior frontal gyrus, superior longitudinal fasciculus, and anterior corona radiata. Duloxetine and desvenlafaxine also had common treatment effects in the limbic system: tissue microarchitecture normalized in medication-treated patients but deviated further away from values for healthy participants in placebo-treated patients. Furthermore, symptom severity significantly mediated the treatment effects on tissue microstructure, suggesting that abnormal tissue microstructure at baseline is at least in part a neuroplastic compensatory response to symptoms.

conclusionsMedication may have reduced the need for compensatory response because it reduces symptom severity, whereas placebo sustains the need for compensation. The unique and common effects of duloxetine and desvenlafaxine on neurotransmitter systems are likely responsible for their spatially unique and common effects in altering tissue microstructure.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifiers: NCT01537068 (Desvenlafaxine study, 2/16/2012); and NCT00360724 (Duloxetine study, 08/03/2006).

Indexed as

Antidepressive AgentsBrainDepressive DisorderDesvenlafaxine SuccinateDuloxetine HydrochlorideAdultDiffusion Tensor ImagingDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedWhite MatterAntidepressive AgentsDesvenlafaxine SuccinateDuloxetine HydrochlorideDepressionDesvenlafaxineDuloxetinePersistent depressive disorderRandomized controlled trialSelective norepinephrine-reuptake inhibitorsSelective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors

Identifiers

PMID42214294
PMCPMC13241746

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

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.