Celecoxib as an Adjuvant to Fluvoxamine in Moderate to Severe Obsessive-compulsive Disorder: A Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Randomized Trial

Abstract

Introduction: A growing body of evidence implicates inflammatory cascades in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), making this pathway a target for development of novel treatments.

Methods: 50 outpatients with moderate to severe OCD participated in the trial, and underwent 10 weeks of treatment with either celecoxib (200 mg twice daily) or placebo as an adjuvant to fluvoxamine. Participants were investigated using Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). The main outcome measure was to assess the efficacy of celecoxib in improving the OCD symptoms.

Results: General linear model repeated measures demonstrated significant effect for time × treatment interaction on the Y-BOCS total scores [F (1.38, 66.34)=6.91, p=0.005]. Kaplan-Meier estimation with log-rank test demonstrated significantly more rapid response in the celecoxib group than the placebo group (p<0.001). There was no significant difference in adverse event frequencies between the groups.

Discussion: The results of the current study suggest that celecoxib could be a tolerable and effective adjunctive treatment for more rapid and more satisfying improvements in OCD symptoms.

Key words

anti-inflammatory agents - celecoxib - cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors - obsessive-compulsive disorder

^* The first two authors contributed equally to this work

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