Romanian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences
 

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LOW-DOSE OLANZAPINE AUGMENTATION OF DULOXETINE IN PATIENTS WITH DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS: A RETROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

ANDREEA SĂLCUDEAN 1, BIANCA-EUGENIA ŐSZ 2*, ANCA-MEDA VĂSIEȘIU 3, RAMONA-AMINA POPOVICI 4, ELENA-GABRIELA STRETE 5, DANIELA-LUCIA MUNTEAN ⁶

¹ Department of Ethics and Social Sciences, “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Târgu Mureş, 540142, Târgu Mureş, Romania
2 Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy, “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Târgu Mureş, 540142, Târgu Mureş, Romania
3 Department of Infectious Diseases, “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Targu Mures, 540142, Târgu Mureş, Romania
4 Department of Management and Communication in Dental Medicine, Department I, Faculty of Dental Medicine, “Victor Babeș” University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Timișoara, 300041, Timișoara, Romania
5 Department of Psychiatry, “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Târgu Mureș, 540142, Târgu Mureș, Romania
6 Department of Analytical Chemistry and Drug Analysis, “George Emil Palade” University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science, and Technology of Târgu Mureș, 540142, Târgu-Mureș, Romania

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This retrospective observational study compared the effectiveness of duloxetine augmented with low-dose olanzapine (Group A, n = 34) and duloxetine monotherapy (Group B, n = 26) in 60 patients with depressive disorders. Depressive symptoms and global functioning were assessed using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAFS) at baseline and follow-up. Both groups showed significant improvement, with HAM-D decreasing by 14.0 in Group A and 16.4 points in Group B and GAFS increasing by 34.3 in Group A and 40.6 points in Group B, respectively. The monotherapy group had a higher final GAFS score (76.8 vs. 71.6, p = 0.031) and a numerically higher response rate (60.0% vs. 38.2%, p = 0.119). Patients receiving adjunctive olanzapine were older and had a shorter follow-up period, whereas baseline symptom severity was comparable. The observed between-group differences should be interpreted cautiously because treatment allocation reflected routine clinical practice rather than randomization. Prospective controlled studies are needed to further evaluate the role of low-dose olanzapine augmentation in depressive disorders.