Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Depression.

Summary

Major depressive disorder (MDD) has increased in recent years, affecting 16.1% of the adult population nationwide. Currently, there are pharmacological and psychological treatments that have a 67% remission rate for depressive symptoms and insomnia after up to four trials of antidepressant treatments. Recently, low-intensity transcranial magnetic stimulation (Li-TMS) has been used to activate and generate structural and neural functioning changes in specific cortical regions such as the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, as its activity is altered in MDD. Furthermore, an increase in circulating levels of granulocytes, monocytes, and inflammatory cytokines has been observed in patients with MDD, suggesting an association between inflammation and neurotoxicity with the development of depression and decreased BDNF, mainly affecting the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Therefore, it has been proposed to quantify markers of systemic inflammation and evaluate their correlation with MDD and their possible effect with Li-TMS. This was a probabilistic, two-arm, block-randomized, single-blind clinical trial. A qualified psychiatrist evaluated the patients according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) to confirm the diagnosis of major depressive disorder. Two groups were formed and randomly assigned to receive treatment: transcranial magnetic stimulation or the sham group. The patients were unaware of the treatment; they did not know whether they would receive low-intensity transcranial magnetic stimulation (Li-TMS) or not.

It was a clinical trial, two arms, probabilistic, block randomized, single-blind. The experimental group received conventional drug treatment combined with Li-TMS, and the control group was administered standard drug therapy with coil placement, without exposure to Li-TMS emission. Both groups had the device coils placed on them.

Conditions

• Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)

Interventions

OTHER

The experimental group(A) received conventional drug treatment combined with Li-TMS.

20 sessions of Li-TMS with the medical device Nibbot Pro Series. Each Li-TMS session consisted in positioning an eight-shaped coil over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC) which dispensed magnetic pulses at 25 Hz, (30 mT) for 45 minutes. Subjects received one Li-TMS session daily, from Monday through Friday. The experimental group received conventional drug treatment combined with Li-TMS, and the control group were administered standard drug therapy with coil placement, without exposure to Li-TMS emission. Both groups had the device coils placed on them. At the end of the study, the control group received Li-TMS treatment.

OTHER

control group B were administered standard drug therapy with coil placement, without exposure to Li-TMS emission.

the control group were administered standard drug therapy with coil placement, without exposure to Li-TMS emission.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social

  lead OTHER_GOV

Principal Investigators

• Blanca Olivia Murillo Ortiz, PhD · Mexican Social Security Institute

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

60 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-01-06

Primary Completion

2025-07-25

Completion

2026-05-18

Countries

• Mexico

Study Locations