Pilot Study of Pramipexole for Anhedonia Symptoms in Unipolar Depression
At a recent scientific meeting, researcher Laura Hack described an open-label pilot study of pramipexole in participants with major depression including anhedonia, or inability to feel pleasure. Five participants with prominent anhedonia and major depression completed eight weeks of treatment with pramipexole, which activates dopamine D2 and D3 receptors. Four of the five who completed the study saw notable improvements in their anhedonia and quality of life.
The starting daily dose was 0.26 mg, which was increased every three days to a target dose of 2.0 mg per day. Two additional patients dropped out due to side effects (nausea, poor sleep, and headache).
Low activity in the ventral striatum, a part of the brain associated with decision-making and implicated in the brain’s reward system, correlated with the severity of the patients’ anhedonia. These results suggest that further studies are warranted.
Pramipexole has also shown positive effects in two small studies in bipolar depression. The drug is currently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and also works in restless legs syndrome.
