1 out of 8 children, adolescents, and young adults suffer from an anxiety disorder. Studies over the past decade show that selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a class of medication that treats anxiety in adults, also works well in young adults, children, and adolescents with anxiety disorders, but only for about 50%. 50% will have undergone treatment for several months before it will be established that the medication is not working to treat the anxiety. The purpose of this study is to find a test that will predict treatment outcome from the beginning based on behavioral and biological measures.
Current evidence based psychiatric treatment for child, adolescent, and young adult anxiety disorders involves a trial and error process. Pediatric psychiatrists start with the first line treatments (i.e. SSRI or psychotherapy), which requires from 4-8 weeks to work. There is a long interval between treatment initiation and response with only 50 to 60% likelihood that the treatment chosen will succeed in reducing anxiety symptoms. The science that will enable us to predict who will respond to medication treatment does not exist. Studies have demonstrated a correlation between cellular markers in white blood cells and psychiatric disorders suggesting that certain genes may also change their expression in peripheral cells in response to treatment of psychiatric disorders. Several studies report a significant decrease in expression of key genes that are involved in the pathophysiology of anxiety and depression in the brain, such as BDNF, CREB and HDAC5 levels in leukocytes of people with mood and anxiety disorders. The levels of BDNF, HDAC5 and CREB in white blood cells then respond to treatment and match that of controls after treatment with SSRIs. The increased accessibility to sequencing technology allows us to survey many more potential biomarkers than what was possible just several years ago. This may enable us to formulate a test that will predict, based on biocellular markers, treatment outcome in anxiety disorders for children, adolescents, and young adults before the onset of treatment. By finding molecular markers that can predict treatment success from the onset, the investigators can improve treatment outcomes considerably compared to current standard treatment practices. This kind of personalized medicine is the future of psychiatry.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
14
Sertraline will be administered to treat anxiety disorders in children and adolescents.
NYSPI
New York, New York, United States
Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) Score
The CGI-I score at the final visit will determine treatment response. The CGI-Improvement scale comprises a one-item measures evaluating the following change from the initiation of treatment on a seven-point scale. The following one query is rated on a seven-point scale: "Compared to the patient's condition at admission to the project \[prior to medication initiation\], this patient's condition is: 1=very much improved since the initiation of treatment; 2=much improved; 3=minimally improved; 4=no change from baseline (the initiation of treatment); 5=minimally worse; 6= much worse; 7=very much worse since the initiation of treatment. CGI-I scale of 1-2 is considered response to treatment. Anything below that is considered non-response to sertraline treatment.
Time frame: Final visit, at 12 weeks of treatment
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