This study aims to determine if treatment with an SSRI antidepressant medication, paroxetine, is associated with cellular calcium response to serotonin, platelet serotonin receptors, and improvement in mood in depressed patients with or without hypertension. It is hypothesized that platelets of hypertensive patients with depressive symptomatology with be hyper-responsive to serotonin. Additionally, treatment with an SSRI antidepressant is expected to produce a down-regulation of the serotonin receptor with an associated reduction in platelet cytosolic calcium response as well as improved mood.

Condition	Treatment or Intervention	Phase
Depression Hypertension	Drug: paroxetine  Behavior: ongoing psychological screening	Phase IV

Ages Eligible for Study:  25 Years   -   65 Years,  Genders Eligible for Study:  Male

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Criteria

Subjects for all study groups will be male and between the ages of 25 and 65

Hypertension & Depression Group: Hypertension controlled with an ACE-inhibitor anti-hypertensive; no co-morbid medical conditions known to influence psychological functioning or platelet calcium responses including uncontrolled diabetes, MI or CVA within 6 months of enrollment, secondary hypertension; depression as diagnosed by structured interview and HDRS score of 18; no active participation in another clinical trial; no current suicidal/ homicidal ideation

Hypertension Group: Hypertension controlled with an ACE-inhibitor anti-hypertensive; no co-morbid medical conditions known to influence psychological functioning or platelet calcium responses including uncontrolled diabetes, MI or CVA within 6 months of enrollment, secondary hypertension; no active participation in another clinical trial; no current suicidal/ homicidal ideation

Depression Group: No co-morbid medical conditions known to influence psychological functioning or platelet calcium responses including uncontrolled diabetes, MI or CVA within 6 months of enrollment, secondary hypertension; depression as diagnosed by structured interview and HDRS score of 18; no active participation in another clinical trial; no current suicidal/ homicidal ideation

Illinois
      Edward Hines Jr. Hospital, Hines,  Illinois,  60141,  United States

Study ID Numbers:  MHBS-023-00S
Record last reviewed:  June 2001
Record first received:  July 3, 2001
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:  NCT00018759
Health Authority: United States: Federal Government
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on 2004-11-10