Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are of no benefit in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, a small pilot study involving gastroenterologists from Adelaide shows.

The study randomly assigned 26 people with clinically established quiescent or mild Crohn’s disease to receive either fluoxetine 20mg daily or placebo.

At twelve months the trial demonstrated no benefit of fluoxetine on disease activity (assessed with CDAI and faecal calprotectin), QoL or mental health over 12 months compared to placebo.

The study authors noted that a previous trial of a similar size had demonstrated short-term effectiveness of duloxetine in improving anxiety, depression, quality of life and severity of symptoms.

“This may mean that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as fluoxetine offer no IBD-specific benefit while other newer antidepressants could be a more promising treatment pathway,” the study authors wrote in their paper published in the Journal of Crohn’s and Collitis.

“Given the success of tricyclic antidepressants in managing functional gut disorders, they are certainly an interesting option to explore.”

The authors conceded that the small size of the trial may have influenced their results.