A simple taste test could revolutionize depression treatment
NCT ID NCT03645447
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study explores whether a taste test can serve as a diagnostic tool for depression. Participants with untreated major depressive disorder will take a taste test before and after starting an antidepressant prescribed by their doctor, and again six to eight weeks later. The goal is to see if changes in taste sensitivity correlate with improvements in mood, potentially offering a new way to predict which antidepressant will work best for each person.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- taste test device
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this taste test could become a quick, low-cost tool to help doctors choose the right antidepressant for each patient.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-stage study with 240 participants. The taste test may not reliably predict treatment outcomes, and results may not apply to all types of depression.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 240 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jun 2022
- Expected to finish
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Feb 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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A company
The lead sponsor is a pharmaceutical, biotech, or medical-device company.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with a diagnosis of previously untreated Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) of at least 3 weeks duration or new or recurrent MDD untreated before this episode (patients who have previously received treatment for MDD must have stopped taking antidepressant medication at least six weeks prior to entering the trial); * Patients requiring pharmaceutical intervention as a treatment for MDD; * Not suffering from any significant other mental or physical illness, such as confirmed psychosis, or end of life care. * Receiving stable medical therapy for 30 days or longer before screening assessments; * Be willing and able to comply with all visits and study related procedures; * Not infected with coronavirus or needing to self-isolate * Understands the study requirements and the treatment procedures and is able to provide written informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: * Already on antidepressant medication; * Known or suspected hypersensitivity or intolerance to any probes, or any of their excipients; * Relevant history or presence upon clinical examination, of cardiac, ophthalmologic, gastro-intestinal, hepatic, or renal disease or other condition known to increase risk of side effects of the probe drugs. This exclusion criterion is determined by the Site Investigator; * Have a history or presence of neurological or confounding psychiatric conditions (such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, space occupying lesions, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, vascular dementia, transient ischemic attack, or schizophrenia), * Patients with a diagnosis of chronic pain. * Participation in another trial concurrently or within 30 days preceding enrolment that is deemed to interfere with this trial; * Patients who are pregnant, or who are likely to become pregnant, will be excluded from the trial, as will breastfeeding mothers; * Patients using supplements containing psychoactive herbs (for example St Johns Wort or 5-HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan, also known as oxitriptan); * Patients regularly using psychoactive stimulants and recreational drugs (for example MDMA (ecstasy/ methyl enedioxy methamphetamine), amphetamine, LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), cocaine); * Patients infected with coronavirus, or who are advised to self-isolate * Patients who are unable or unwilling to comply with study procedures.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
4 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
The full official record for this study. This one lists no contact details, but it is the first place any would appear.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Honiton Surgery
Honiton, Devon, EX14 2LY, United Kingdom
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Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust
Hull, Yorkshire, United Kingdom
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Jhoots Pharmacy
Bristol, Avon, BS9 3AG, United Kingdom
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West Walk Surgery, Yate
Bristol, BS37 4AX, United Kingdom
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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