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Measuring Psychomotor Response to L-DOPA Challenge As a Biomarker for Outcomes in Late-Life Depression: a Pilot Feasibility Trial

NCT06626152 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: PHASE2 · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 50

Last updated 2024-10-03

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Background

Adults over the age of 60 with symptoms of major depressive disorder are said to have late-life depression (LLD), a condition that usually decreases a person's quality of life and is associated with other risks like physical frailty and dementia. A common feature of more severe LLD is psychomotor slowing, where a person's ability to think and move are impaired. For example, they might not be able to walk or process information as quickly, and they might have problems with their working memory.

Psychomotor slowing in LLD might be the result of a problem with the way a person's body produces or responds to the neurotransmitter dopamine. The drug Levodopa (L-DOPA), which can replace missing dopamine in the brain, has been used to treat to treat Parkinson's disease for many decades, and it might also affect psychomotor slowing in LLD.

Methods

In this study, participants are adults aged 60 years or older with moderate to severe major depression. Participants undergo the "L-DOPA challenge"-a 2-week period where they receive a dose of L-DOPA once a day for the first week and a dose of L-DOPA twice a day for the second week. Before and after a participant completes the L-DOPA challenge, the study team assesses their depressive symptoms and psychomotor function. After the L-DOPA challenge, if a participant still shows signs of moderate or severe depression, they receive an antidepressant for 12 weeks.

Aims

The first aim of this study is to test the feasibility of the L-DOPA challenge-that is, whether most of the 50 participants recruited for this study will complete the L-DOPA challenge. For example, participants might have to withdraw if they can't make the daily visits to the research site to receive their L-DOPA medication, if they can't tolerate the medication's side effects, or if their depressive symptoms get significantly worse. Our hypothesis is that 80% of the participants will complete the L-DOPA challenge.

The second aim of the study is to see if L-DOPA affects participants' depressive symptoms, processing speed, and working memory. Our hypothesis is that L-DOPA response, measured as an improvement in gait speed, is associated with a decrease in depressive symptoms and an increase in processing speed and working memory.

Conditions

Interventions

DRUG

Apo-levocarb

As above.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Providence Health & Services

    collaborator OTHER

  • University of British Columbia

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
60 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2024-08-15
Primary Completion
2026-05-30
Completion
2026-05-30

Countries

  • Canada

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT06626152 on ClinicalTrials.gov