Effects of a standardized extract of Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) on depression and anxiety symptoms in persons with schizophrenia participating in a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial
Gannon JM, Brar J, Rai A, Chengappa KNR
Annals of clinical psychiatry : official journal of the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists · 26 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
Publication
- Published
- 2019-05-01 · Ann Clin Psychiatry · vol. 31 · issue 2 · pp. 123–129
- Publisher
- National Institutes of Health
- Cited
- 52 citations · more than 98% of similar papers · 7.7× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 0 works
- Access
- Paywalled
- Research areas
- Phytochemicals and Medicinal Plants · Schizophrenia research and treatment · Banking Sector Performance and Management
- Keywords
- Withania somnifera, Anxiety, Placebo, Depression (economics), Schizophrenia (object-oriented programming), Psychiatry, Medicine, Randomized controlled trial, Adverse effect, Internal medicine, Psychology, Alternative medicine
- MeSH
- humans, withania, antipsychotic agents, plant extracts, treatment outcome, double-blind method, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, brief psychiatric rating scale, adult, aged, middle aged, female, male
4 authors
From US
- Jessica M. GannonUPMC Health System; University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
- J.S. Brar
- Rai A
- K N Roy Chengappa
Abstract
Background
Extracts of Withania somnifera (WSE), or Ashwagandha, has traditionally been used as an adaptogen in Ayurvedic medicine, and evidence suggests that it may have efficacy in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. This secondary analysis reviewed change in depression and anxiety symptoms in a study using WSE as an adjunctive treatment in patients with schizophrenia experiencing an exacerbation of positive symptoms.
Methods
We enrolled patients with schizophrenia in a 12-week, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. Active treatment was with 1,000 mg of standardized WSE. This analysis reviewed outcomes for 66 patients with depression and anxiety symptoms by examining the singleitem depression and anxiety-depression cluster subscores extracted from the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale.
Results
Medium effect sizes of 0.683 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.16 to 1.21) and 0.686 (95% CI, 0.16 to 1.21) favoring WSE over placebo were observed for depression single-item and anxiety-depression cluster scores, respectively. Adverse events were mild and transient.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that WSE may hold promise in the treatment of depression and anxiety symptoms in schizophrenia. While the mechanism of its clinical efficacy requires more exploration, the data suggest.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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