Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2024
Abstract
Background Zuranolone, an oral version of allopregnanolone and neurosteroid, is a novel drug for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) and postpartum depression (PPD).
Aim The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to assess the efficacy of zuranolone in the treatment of MDD and PPD.
Method A systematic search was conducted using EBSCOhost to simultaneously search Academic Search Premier, APA PsycArticles, APA PsycInfo, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL Ultimate, and MEDLINE with Full Text. Two independent reviewers screened the articles and completed a full-text review using Covidence. The quality of each study was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool for randomized trials (RoB 2). A meta-analysis was then conducted using Review Manager (RevMan v5.4) software.
Results The initial search yielded 127 results, with 6 articles fitting our inclusion and exclusion criteria. All 6 studies, comprising 1707 participants, had an overall low risk of bias. There was a significant decrease in HAM-D scores for MDD at 15 days versus placebo (MD − 2.40, 95% CI − 3.07 to − 1.63; p < .001). When pooling data for PDD, there was an overall significant decrease in HAM-D scores at 15 days versus placebo (MD − 4.06, 95% CI − 4.25 to − 3.87; p < .001).
Conclusion The results suggest that zuranolone can improve symptoms of PPD at 15 days; however, results were not clinically significant for MDD. Future research is needed to evaluate the long-term efficacy of zuranolone in PPD and the treatment efficacy in MDD.
DOI
10.1007/s11096-024-01714-0
PMID
38489051
Recommended Citation
Winslow, M., White, E., Rose, S. J., Salzer, E., & Nemec, E. C., 2nd (2024). The efficacy of zuranolone versus placebo in postpartum depression and major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy. Doi:10.1007/s11096-024-01714-0
Publication
International Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
Publisher
Springer
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Comments
Online ahead of print, March 15, 2024
At the time of publication Mackenzie Winslow and Emily White were students in the Master of Physician Assistant Studies at Sacred Heart University