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NIH awards $2.6 million grant for study of link between depression treatment, CVD

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The NIH has awarded $2.6 million to researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis to investigate whether treatment for depression has a preventive effect on CVD, according to a press release. 

“In previous studies, we have found intriguing positive evidence that managing depression lowers risk of future [MI] and stroke,” researcher Jesse Stewart, PhD, associate professor of psychology at Indiana University Center for Aging Research, said in the release. “With this new NIH-funded clinical trial, we hope to confirm that treatment of depression is cardioprotective, lowering the risk of developing [CVD].”

The study will include 216 older, primary care patients with depression and traditional CV risk factors, according to the release. Patients will be randomly assigned at a 1:1 ratio to receive either 1 year of standard depression treatment or 1 year of eIMPACT, a collaborative program that incorporates technology to treat depression.

Patients will be offered a choice between receiving psychotherapy or antidepressant medication. Those who opt for psychotherapy will receive cognitive-behavioral therapy through a computer program or therapy sessions conducted over the telephone. Researchers will examine the inner lining of blood vessels with ultrasound imagining to assess whether endothelial dysfunction decreases with therapy. Patients who experience an MI or stroke event over the course of follow-up will be identified through the Indiana Network for Patient Care database.

Stewart and colleagues previously conducted an 8-year observational study that demonstrated a 48% reduction in the risk for MI and stroke among patients with depression and no CVD who received an early version of the intervention vs. standard care.

“If the new trial results are positive, they will set the stage for changes to clinical practice,” Stewart said in the release. “Like treating high [BP] or high cholesterol, identifying and treating depression – which often goes unrecognized – may play an important role in reducing disability and death due to [CVD] in the future.”