4 Sept 2023 • About 1 in 8 patients with a recent live birth, experience postpartum depression symptoms for which treatment can take up to 12 weeks to provide relief. Standard management usually comprises talk therapy combined with standard antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

In 2019, the US FDA approved brexanolone, an intravenous injection marketed as Zulresso which became the first treatment specifically for postpartum depression. Brexanolone is a fast-acting medication but involves 60-hour-long infusions, during which patients have to be monitored for excessive sedation and loss of consciousness.

Later this year, the FDA approved Zuranolone, the first pill for treating postpartum depression. Zuranolone is fast-acting, but, it’s far more convenient since it only needs to be taken once a day.

• FDA approved zuranolone on the basis of two phase 3 clinical trials that enrolled postpartum women whose severe depression started in their last trimester or within the first 4 weeks after delivery
• Both studies met their primary end point—a significant reduction on average from baseline in the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression total score at day 15 compared with placebo.

However, experts are concerned that zuranolone might not be the only answer to peripartum depression, and multiple factors like intimate partner violence and a lack of partner or family support should be considered.

Source: JAMA | Read full story