Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 29, 2025
10:36
Conventional Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Depression: A Step-by-Step Protocol
Published on: November 21, 2025
173
Brexpiprazole: a step forward for precision medicine in resistant depression
1a Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences , University of Bologna , Bologna , Italy.
Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy
|September 25, 2018
Summary
Brexpiprazole shows promise as an adjunctive treatment for resistant depression, offering benefits for patients with inadequate response to standard therapies. This study highlights its potential in precision medicine for managing major depressive disorder.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Major depressive disorder (MDD) remains a significant global health burden.
- Effective adjunctive treatments are crucial for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD).
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of brexpiprazole as an adjunctive treatment in patients with MDD.
- To explore its effects in specific subpopulations, including those with minimal treatment benefit and anxious distress.
Main Methods:
- The Sirius study (NCT02196506) investigated brexpiprazole's adjunctive role in MDD.
- Patient response, side effects, and effects in subgroups were assessed.
Main Results:
- Brexpiprazole demonstrated potential benefits as an adjunctive therapy for inadequately treated MDD.
- The study confirmed effects in patients with minimal benefit from standard treatments and those with anxious distress.
- Common side effects included akathisia, restlessness, and weight gain, but overall tolerability was good.
Conclusions:
- Brexpiprazole's unique pharmacodynamic profile supports its use in specific patient subpopulations.
- The findings suggest brexpiprazole contributes to the advancement of precision medicine in depression treatment.
Related Concept Videos
01:26Psychosis: Goals of Pharmacotherapy
399
Antipsychotic drugs are a crucial treatment method for acute and chronic psychoses, bipolar illness, and behavioral disorders. The selection of these drugs depends on several factors, including the state of the disease, clinical judgment, possible drug interactions, and the patient's sensitivity to adverse effects. In immediate scenarios, such as delirium and dementia, short-term treatment with low doses of high-potency typical or atypical agents can effectively manage symptom exacerbation.
399
01:23Antidepressant Drugs: MAOIs and Other Agents
713
Atypical antidepressants, including bupropion (Wellbutrin), mirtazapine (Remeron), nefazodone (Serzone), trazodone (Desyrel), and vilazodone (Viibryd), offer unique mechanisms of action. Bupropion weakly inhibits dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake, aiding depression treatment and smoking cessation, with a low risk of sexual dysfunction. Mirtazapine enhances serotonin and norepinephrine neurotransmission, leading to sedation, increased appetite, and weight gain. As a result, it helps treat...
713
01:25Antidepressant Drugs: Overview
1.2K
Antidepressant drugs are a class of medications primarily used for treating various mood disorders, including major depression, anxiety disorders, and other related conditions. These medicines work by modulating the neurotransmitter balance within the brain, alleviating depressive symptoms. Antidepressants can be broadly categorized into several groups according to their mechanism of action and chemical structure: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), Serotonin-Norepinephrine...
1.2K
01:28Drug Therapy
205
The advent of drug therapy has profoundly shaped modern mental health care, providing targeted treatments for a range of psychological disorders. Psychotherapeutic drugs, classified into antianxiety, antidepressant, and antipsychotic medications, address symptoms across anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and schizophrenia. While these medications have transformed patient outcomes, they require careful management due to their potential side effects and limitations.
Antianxiety Medications
Antianxiety Medications
205
01:28Psychosis and Antipsychotic Drugs: Overview
739
The term "psychosis" refers to a spectrum of mental disorders characterized by abnormal thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors. It can manifest as mood disorders, dementia, delirium with psychotic features, substance-induced psychosis with psychotic features, brief psychotic disorder, delusional disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and schizophrenia. Among all these disorders, schizophrenia is the most common psychotic disorder, affecting 1% of the worldwide population. Psychotic...
739
02:56Treatment Resistant Cancers
3.6K
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. A cancer cell is genetically unstable and hence can mutate faster. They can also modify their microenvironment and escape immune surveillance. The difficulties in treating cancer are further compounded by the emergence of rapid resistance to anticancer drugs. The most common ways to attain resistance in cancer cells include alteration in drug transport and metabolism, modification of drug target, elevated DNA damage response, or...
3.6K