BackgroundConventional pharmacotherapies and psychotherapies for major depression are associated with limited adherence to care and relatively low remission rates. Yoga may offer an alternative treatment option, but rigorous studies are few. This randomized controlled trial with blinded outcome assessors examined an 8-week hatha yoga intervention as mono-therapy for mild-to-moderate major depression.MethodsInvestigators recruited 38 adults in San Francisco meeting criteria for major depression of mild-to-moderate severity, per structured psychiatric interview and scores of 14–28 on Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI). At screening, individuals engaged in psychotherapy, antidepressant pharmacotherapy, herbal or nutraceutical mood therapies, or mind-body practices were excluded. Participants were 68% female, with mean age 43.4 years (SD = 14.8, range = 22–72), and mean BDI score 22.4 (SD = 4.5). Twenty participants were randomized to 90-minute hatha yoga practice groups twice weekly for 8 weeks. Eighteen participants were randomized to 90-minute attention control education groups twice weekly for 8 weeks. Certified yoga instructors delivered both interventions at a university clinic. Primary outcome was depression severity, measured by BDI scores every 2 weeks from baseline to 8 weeks. Secondary outcomes were self-efficacy and self-esteem, measured by scores on the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) at baseline and at 8 weeks.ResultsIn intent-to-treat analysis, yoga participants exhibited significantly greater 8-week decline in BDI scores than controls (p-value = 0.034). In sub-analyses of participants completing final 8-week measures, yoga participants were more likely to achieve remission, defined per final BDI score ≤ 9 (p-value = 0.018). Effect size of yoga in reducing BDI scores was large, per Cohen’s d = -0.96 [95%CI, -1.81 to -0.12]. Intervention groups did not differ significantly in 8-week change scores for either the GSES or RSES.ConclusionIn adults with mild-to-moderate major depression, an 8-week hatha yoga intervention resulted in statistically and clinically significant reductions in depression severity.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01210651

Background This series of studies examines the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic interactions between buprenorphine, an opioid partial agonist increasingly used in treatment of opioid dependence, and rifampin, a medication used as a first line treatment for tuberculosis; or rifabutin, an alternative antituberculosis medication. Methods Opioid-dependent individuals on stable doses of buprenorphine/naloxone underwent two, 24-hour blood sampling studies: 1. for buprenorphine pharmacokinetics and 2. following 15 days of rifampin 600 mg daily or rifabutin 300 mg daily for buprenorphine and rifampin or rifabutin pharmacokinetics. Results Rifampin administration produced significant reduction in plasma buprenorphine concentrations (70% reduction in mean area under the curve (AUC); p=<0·001) and onset of opiate withdrawal symptoms in 50% of participants (p=0·02). While rifabutin administration to buprenorphine-maintained subjects resulted in a significant decrease in buprenorphine plasma concentrations (35% decrease in AUC; p<0·001) no opiate withdrawal was seen. Compared with historical control data, buprenorphine had no significant effect on rifampin pharmacokinetics, but was associated with 22% lower rifabutin mean AUC (p=0·009), although rifabutin and its active metabolite concentrations remained in the therapeutic range. Conclusions Rifampin is a more potent inducer of buprenorphine metabolism than rifabutin with pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic adverse consequences. Those patients requiring rifampin treatment for tuberculosis and receiving buprenorphine therapy are likely to require an increase in buprenorphine dose to prevent withdrawal symptoms. Rifabutin administration was associated with decreases in buprenorphine plasma concentrations, but no clinically significant adverse events were observed.

Dose adjustments are not likely to be necessary when buprenorphine and darunavir-ritonavir or fosamprenavir-ritonavir are coadministered for the treatment of opioid dependence and HIV disease.

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