Sleep architecture in ziprasidone-treated bipolar depression: a pilot study

Objectives: This study investigated the effect of ziprasidone augmentation therapy on sleep architecture in bipolar depression.

Methods: We conducted a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical pilot trial of ziprasidone versus placebo in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition bipolar disorder with current major depressive episode. The effects during acute (2-5 days) and continuation treatment (28-31 days) were measured. Main outcomes were sleep architecture variables including rapid eye movement sleep (REM) and slow wave sleep (SWS) measured by polysomnography. Secondary outcomes included subjective sleep quality measures and illness severity measures including the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17), Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA) and Clinical Global Illness Severity (CGI-S) scores.

Results: The completer analysis comprised of 14 patients (ziprasidone, N = 8 and placebo, N = 6). Latency to REM, duration of SWS, duration of stage 2 sleep, total sleep time, onset to sleep latency, number of awakenings and overall sleep efficiency significantly improved in ziprasidone-treated participants over placebo. CGI-S and HAMA scores also significantly improved. No significant difference between treatment groups was seen on the HAMD-17, MADRS or in self-reported sleep quality. Increase in SWS duration significantly correlated with improvement in CGI-S, however, this finding did not withstand Bonferroni correction.

Conclusion: Adjunctive ziprasidone treatment alters sleep architecture in patients with bipolar depression, which may partially explain its mechanism of action and merits further investigation.