Antioxidant Treatment

  Clinical Trials of an Antioxidant in the Treatment of Depression and Bipolar Depression

Participants Required

Two clinical trials are currently recruiting participants who are experiencing moderate to severe depression. These trials are investigating the use of an antioxidant medication called N-acetylcysteine (abbreviated to NAC) in the treatment of depression. One trial is devoted to depression in the setting of bipolar disorder, and the other trial is devoted to unipolar depression (when only depressive episodes occur without any history of manic or hypomanic episodes).

NAC acts via different mechanisms from existing antidepressants and mood stabilisers. It is a precursor to the amino acid, cysteine, which enhances the antioxidative defence in the body. There is already a collection of studies that has found impaired oxidative balance to be present in depressive illness, and NAC has the potential to correct this imbalance and improve depressive symptoms.

These trials are being conducted in Geelong, Bendigo, Melbourne and Sydney. They are jointly undertaken by the Department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Melbourne, the CADE Clinic at the Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Sydney, and the Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria.

If you are experiencing symptoms of a depressive illness, live in or near Geelong, Bendigo, Melbourne or Sydney, and are interested in these clinical trials, please contact the trial personnel as listed below for more information.

Geelong: Jenny Robbins on (03) 5260 3240 or Felicity Ng on (03) 5226 7470 if you have unipolar depression; Karen Hewitt on (03) 5226 7615 if you have depression as part of bipolar disorder.

Bendigo: Sue Jeavons on (03) 5444 7356

Melbourne: Ian Schapkaitz on (03) 9389 2935

Sydney: Christine Allwang on (02) 9926 5614 or email This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

If your call is not immediately answered, please leave your name and a telephone contact number, and a trial clinician will contact you as soon as possible. All details you provide will be treated with confidentiality.