Antidepressants > Research Update

The editors at TCPR, as well as many of you, received a notice issued by the FDA on August 24, 2011 warning us that citalopram (Celexa) at doses higher than 40 mg may cause dangerous prolongation of the QT interval, which can increase the risk of cardiac arrhythmias (including the potentially fatal torsade de pointes).

The well known Star*D trial yielded disappointingly low remission and response rates in depressed patients who were put on citalopram (Celexa) for eight weeks. Recently, some clinicians have advocated starting depressed patients with a combination of antidepressants, in the hopes that targeting multiple neurotransmitters will boost efficacy.

SSRIs theoretically work by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin, presumably by blocking the serotonin transporter pump whose job is to clean up excess serotonin in the synapses between neurons.