Oestrogen receptor beta compounds do little in perimenopause-related depression

Oestradiol, raloxifene, and the proprietary phytoestrogen compound rimostil appear to convey no therapeutic benefits in perimenopause-related depression (PMD), as shown in a study. However, oestradiol has the potential to improve depression ratings than rimostil.

Sixty-two women with PMD were randomized to receive transdermal 17-beta estradiol (TE; 100 mcg/d), oral raloxifene (60 mg/d), rimostil (1,000 mg twice/d), or placebo for 8 weeks. Treatment efficacy was evaluated by changes in the following: the Center for Epidemiology Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

At week 8, active treatment produced no significant change in CES-D (p=0.34) or BDI (p=0.27) scores compared with placebo. However, HRSD scores differed across treatment groups (p=0.0037), such that TE had greater effect than rimostil (p=0.0005) and placebo (p=0.099).

The average scores on the HRSD decreased from 15.3 at baseline to 5.2 at week 8 in the TE group, from 16.0 to 5.8 in the raloxifene group, from 14.0 to 11.2 in the rimostil group, and from 15.2 to 7.8 in the placebo group.

There were no differences seen between raloxifene and either TE or placebo in any scale score.

Furthermore, the difference in HRSD scores between women on TE and those on rimostil became pronounced at the 6- and 8-week mark (p=0.0008 and p=0.0011, respectively).

Finally, results of cognitive testing at week 8 showed that none of the three oestrogen-like compounds performed better than placebo.

The findings do not support the role of oestrogen receptor beta compounds in the treatment of PMD.