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Antidiabetes Agents and Incident Depression: A Nationwide Population-Based Study
Lars Vedel Kessing1,2, Helene Charlotte Rytgaard3, Claus Thorn Ekstrøm3
1Copenhagen Affective Disorder Research Center, Psychiatric Center Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark lars.vedel.kessing@regionh.dk.
Diabetes Care
|September 26, 2020
Summary
Metformin use in individuals with diabetes was linked to lower rates of developing depression. This finding suggests metformin may be a beneficial treatment option for diabetic patients at risk of depression.
Area of Science:
- Endocrinology
- Psychiatry
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Diabetes mellitus is a significant risk factor for developing depression.
- The potential antidepressant effects of certain antidiabetes medications, such as metformin and pioglitazone, require systematic investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between 20 orally administered antidiabetes drugs and the risk of incident depression.
- To compare the effects of oral antidiabetes drugs with insulin on depression risk.
Main Methods:
- Utilized four Danish population-based registers, including all individuals in Denmark from 2005 to 2015.
- Employed Cox regression models to analyze two depression outcome measures: psychiatric diagnoses and a combined measure of depression diagnosis or antidepressant use.
- Included 360,205 individuals on oral antidiabetes drugs and 64,582 on insulin.
Main Results:
- Continued use of metformin, including in drug combinations, was associated with reduced rates of incident depression.
- Pioglitazone showed no significant association with decreased depression rates.
- No other studied antidiabetes drugs or insulin demonstrated significant links to depression risk.
Conclusions:
- Real-world data indicate a positive impact of metformin on depression rates in diabetic patients.
- Metformin may be a valuable therapeutic consideration for type 2 diabetes patients at risk for depression, including those with a history of depression or anxiety.
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