Comparative Effectiveness Research Trial for Antidepressant Incomplete and Non-responders With TRD (ASCERTAINTRD)
![]() |
The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details. |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02977299 |
Recruitment Status :
Completed
First Posted : November 30, 2016
Last Update Posted : April 27, 2022
|
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment | Phase |
---|---|---|
Treatment Resistant Major Depressive Disorder | Drug: Aripiprazole Device: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) Drug: Venlafaxine XR | Phase 4 |
Study Type : | Interventional (Clinical Trial) |
Actual Enrollment : | 278 participants |
Allocation: | Randomized |
Intervention Model: | Parallel Assignment |
Masking: | Single (Outcomes Assessor) |
Primary Purpose: | Treatment |
Official Title: | Augmentation Versus Switch: Comparative Effectiveness Research Trial for Antidepressant Incomplete and Non-responders With Treatment Resistant Depression (ASCERTAIN-TRD) |
Actual Study Start Date : | May 1, 2017 |
Actual Primary Completion Date : | April 24, 2022 |
Actual Study Completion Date : | April 24, 2022 |

Arm | Intervention/treatment |
---|---|
Experimental: Aripiprazole Augmentation
Patients randomized to this treatment arm will be instructed to continue all permitted psychotropics at their current dose throughout the 8-week trial and initiate adjunctive aripiprazole. The starting dose will be 5mg daily. The dose may be reduced to as low as 2mg for tolerability issues (this will be the lowest dose permitted for continuation in the trial). The dose may be adjusted in 2 or 5mg increments. The minimum time per increment will be 7 days. The maximum dose will be set at 15mg daily. For patients who are not on potent cytochrome 2D6 inhibitors (such as paroxetine, fluoxetine, duloxetine) or on potent cytochrome 3A4 inhibitors (such as fluvoxamine and nefazodone) and who are able to tolerate 15mg daily, the maximum dose can be raised to 20mg daily for efficacy.
|
Drug: Aripiprazole
Oral adjunctive therapy with aripiprazole, dose adjusted for effectiveness and tolerability.
Other Name: Abilify |
Experimental: rTMS Augmentation
Patients randomized to this treatment arm will be instructed to continue all permitted psychotropics at their current dose throughout the 8-week trial. We will use clinical TMS stimulators with focal figure-of-eight coils. We will start by measuring the patient´s motor threshold (MT), which is a measure of cortical excitability used to standardize the intensity of stimulation across subjects.
|
Device: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)
Adjunctive therapy with transcranial magnetic stimulation, dose adjusted for effectiveness and tolerability. |
Experimental: Switching To Venlafaxine XR
Patients randomized to this treatment arm will be instructed to continue all permitted psychotropics throughout the 8-week trial, except for their antidepressant(s). They will be instructed to discontinue all antidepressants and initiate venlafaxine that day, as direct switch to serotonergic antidepressants is well tolerated and avoids loss of precious therapeutic time (Montgomery et al., 2014), including to switching to venlafaxine in STAR*D (Rush et al., 2006b). For patients who do not prefer a direct switch, or when clinically indicated otherwise in the opinion of the site investigator, a gradual tapering during the screening period will be permitted as long as a direct switch to venlafaxine is made on the baseline visit from the final antidepressant dose. The starting dose of venlafaxine will be 75mg daily. The dose may be reduced to as low as 37.5mg for tolerability issues (this will be the lowest dose permitted for continuation in the trial).
|
Drug: Venlafaxine XR
Oral switch therapy with venlafaxine, dose adjusted for effectiveness and tolerability.
Other Name: Effexor XR |
- Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) [ Time Frame: 8 weeks ]Assessment of depression severity.
- Quality of Life, Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire - Short Form (Q-LES-Q-SF) [ Time Frame: 8 weeks ]Assessment of quality of life
- Massachusetts General Hospital Cognitive and Physical Symptoms Questionnaire (MGH CPFQ) [ Time Frame: 8 weeks ]Assessment of cognitive symptoms

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years to 80 Years (Adult, Older Adult) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | All |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Inclusion Criteria:
- women and men ages 18-80,
- with MDD, of at least 12 weeks duration, according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria confirmed by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI; Sheehan et al, 1998),
- have a Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS - Montgomery and Asberg, 1979) score of at least 20 at screen and baseline as assessed by site clinicians,
- meet criteria for TRD during the current major depressive episode documented in the MGH Antidepressant Treatment History Questionnaire (ATRQ) (Chandler et al., 2010), which will be defined as being non-responders (less than 50% of symptom improvement) to two or more depression treatment trials of adequate dose and duration as defined by the MGH ATRQ,
- are currently on an antidepressant of adequate dose (as defined by the MGH ATRQ) and duration (at least 8 weeks), with the antidepressant dose being stable over the past four weeks, and with documented (in the MGH ATRQ) non-response (less than 50% improvement) to the current antidepressant.
- Patients who have passed the MGH CTNI remote assessment, with documentation provided to sites by MGH CTNI.
Exclusion Criteria:
- pregnant or breastfeeding women, women of childbearing potential who are not using an accepted means of birth control, or women with a positive urine pregnancy test,
- patients who have received treatment with rTMS, aripiprazole, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), or venlafaxine during the current episode,
- patients who express an objection to receiving treatment with at least one of the three treatment arms of our study,
- patients with any history of bipolar disorder or psychosis (diagnosed by MINI),
- patients with active alcohol or substance abuse disorders within the past 6 months (diagnosed by MINI),
- patients with suicidal ideation of the degree that, in the opinion of the evaluating clinician, participation in the study would place them at significantly increased risk of suicide,
- patients with unstable medical issues of such degree that, in the opinion of the evaluating clinician, participation in the study would place them at significant risk of a serious adverse event, or patients with a screening hemoglobin A1c level greater than 7.5%, or patients with epilepsy, dementia, Parkinson's disease, or Huntington's Disease,
- patients who have received treatment with vagus nerve stimulation (VNS),
- patients who have not responded to more than five FDA-approved antidepressant treatment trials of adequate dose and duration during the current episode, or who did not respond to ECT in previous episodes
- patients on excluded medications,
- patients with a positive urine screen drug test for a substance for which they do not have a valid prescription for a valid medical reason,
- patients with currently abnormal thyroid function tests,
- patients who have received at least one dose of a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) four weeks or less prior, and
- for patients on concomitant psychotropic agents (anticonvulsants, benzodiazepines, hypnotics, opiates, triiodothyronine (T3), modafinil, psychostimulants, buspirone, melatonin, omega-3 fatty acids, folate, l-methylfolate, s-adenosyl methionine, lithium) not on the same dose for at least four weeks prior to study entry or who do not agree to continue at the same dose during the acute phase of the study.
- Patients who do not meet safety criteria for TMS: history of seizures, cardiac pacemaker, DBS or VNS, brain aneurism clips or other metallic implants in the intracranial space.
- Also excluded is an individual who has received any administration of ketamine in the current episode for the treatment of depression.

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT02977299
United States, Alabama | |
The University of Alabama School of Medicine | |
Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35294 | |
United States, California | |
Pacific Institute of Medical Research | |
Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095 | |
Stanford University | |
Stanford, California, United States, 94305 | |
United States, Florida | |
University of South Florida | |
Tampa, Florida, United States, 33613 | |
United States, Illinois | |
Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine | |
Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611 | |
United States, New York | |
New York University | |
New York, New York, United States, 10003 | |
United States, Ohio | |
University of Cincinnati | |
Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, 45219 | |
United States, Pennsylvania | |
University of Pennsylvania | |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104 | |
United States, South Carolina | |
Roper St. Francis Hospital | |
Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425 | |
United States, Texas | |
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center | |
Dallas, Texas, United States, 75390 | |
Baylor College of Medicine | |
Houston, Texas, United States, 77030 | |
Canada, British Columbia | |
University of British Columbia | |
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | |
Canada, Manitoba | |
University of Manitoba St. Boniface Hospital | |
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R2H 2A6 |
Responsible Party: | George I. Papakostas, Scientific Director, MGH Clinical Trial Network and Institute (CTNI), Massachusetts General Hospital |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT02977299 |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
2015P002430 |
First Posted: | November 30, 2016 Key Record Dates |
Last Update Posted: | April 27, 2022 |
Last Verified: | April 2022 |
Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement: | |
Plan to Share IPD: | No |
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product: | Yes |
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product: | Yes |
Depressive Disorder Depressive Disorder, Major Mood Disorders Mental Disorders Aripiprazole Venlafaxine Hydrochloride Antidepressive Agents Psychotropic Drugs Antipsychotic Agents Tranquilizing Agents Central Nervous System Depressants Physiological Effects of Drugs Dopamine Agonists Dopamine Agents |
Neurotransmitter Agents Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action Serotonin 5-HT1 Receptor Agonists Serotonin Receptor Agonists Serotonin Agents Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Antagonists Serotonin Antagonists Dopamine D2 Receptor Antagonists Dopamine Antagonists Serotonin and Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors Neurotransmitter Uptake Inhibitors Membrane Transport Modulators Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation |