An interventional study of Dialectical behavior therapy and Treatment as Usual: any other drug or psychotherapy offered to participants, except DBT in Borderline Personality Disorder, sponsored by Mackay Memorial Hospital. Completed at 1 site in Taiwan. Open to participants aged 20 Years to 60 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-09-05.
Sponsored by Mackay Memorial Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a chronic and debilitating syndrome associated with considerable morbidity, mortality, and high rates of medical and psychiatric utilization services. Research focusing on finding a biological observable marker for the purpose of monitoring treatment effects has started to draw attention. Recent research has implicated that brain-derived neutrophilic factor (BDNF) might be a natural candidate for a biological correlate of early life stress. The alterations in levels of BDNF or BDNF methylation in BPD patients compared to general population, or pre- and post- psychotherapeutic treatment might indicate the consequence of epigenetic modification associated with stressful experience or suicide, and may later be able to explain the psychopathology or neuro-development of BPD.
Method: The investigators therefore propose this current randomized control trial to test whether epigenetic changes happen during and after DBT treatments, and not TAU. Proportions having suicide or non-suicidal self injurious behaviors will be followed and tested against changes in BDNF methylation levels. Other clinical symptoms will as be assessed, including suicidality, depression, hopelessness, quality of life, disability, service utilization, and function.
In the first to third years of this study, the investigators will aim to recruit 180 study and control subjects, to gather information, to collect biological samples, to give out one-year of psychotherapy per subject, to evaluate results before, during, and after treatment. In addition, the investigators also hope to explore the effects of known or unknown drugs associated with the change of DNA methylation at cell level.
Hypothesis:
Responders of participants who receive DBT will show greater decrease in BDNF methylation levels than patients receiving TAU.
Background: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a chronic and debilitating syndrome associated with considerable morbidity, mortality, and high rates of medical and psychiatric utilization services. The prevalence of BPD is around 1%-2% in general population. However, suicidality and self-injury are common, an estimated 69-80% of patients with BPD attempt suicide and a higher percentage engage in nonsuicidal self-injurious behavior. The rate of completed suicide in this group is appropriately 10%. Several Western literature have demonstrated the therapeutic effects of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) in patients with BPD. However, research focusing on finding a biological observable marker for the purpose of monitoring treatment effects has started to draw attention. Recent research has implicated that brain-derived neutrophilic factor (BDNF) might be a natural candidate for a biological correlate of early life stress. The alterations in levels of BDNF or BDNF methylation in BPD patients compared to general population, or pre- and post- psychotherapeutic treatment might indicate the consequence of epigenetic modification associated with stressful experience or suicide, and may later be able to explain the psychopathology or neurodevelopment of BPD.
Such studies investigating associations of changes in methylation levels, with changes in depressive scores, hopelessness scores, impulsivity, or effects of psychotherapy have never been done in Asian countries. Little is known about the possible epigenetic changes related to Western psychological therapies for BPD patients in Asia.
Method: The investigators therefore propose this current randomized control trial to test whether epigenetic changes happen during and after DBT treatments, and not treatment as usual (TAU). Proportions having suicide or non-suicidal self injurious behaviors will be followed and tested against changes in BDNF methylation levels. Other clinical symptoms will as be assessed, including suicidality, depression, hopelessness, quality of life, disability, service utilization, and function. Inclusion criteria will be subjects who fulfill the Diagnostic Statistic Manual-IV (DSM-IV) criteria for BPD, 20-60 years of age, sign the informed consent, have had at least two episodes of suicidal or non-suicidal self-injurious episodes in the past 5 years, and at least one of which is in the 3 months preceding enrollment. The exclusion criteria include psychotic disorder, bipolar I disorder, severe physical illness, and mental retardation. Outcome measures and blood samples will be obtained at pre-treatment, 4-month, 8-month and post-treatment (12-month) during 1-year protocol. Using semi-structured interview and a battery of self-report forms, a range of symptoms and behaviors associated with BPD will be assessed. Outcome variables will be evaluated by blinded assessors.
In the first to third years of this study, the investigators will aim to recruit 180 study and control subjects, to gather information, to collect biological samples, to give out one-year of psychotherapy per subject, to evaluate results before, during, and after treatment. The TAU group would receive any therapy the patient could get excluding DBT. In addition, we also hope to explore the effects of known or unknown drugs associated with this project (such as decitabine, azacitidine, trichostatin A, valproic acid) on the change of DNA methylation at cell level. As a consequence, considering potential developments of biological correlates or medications as future evidences of treatments for BPD, this research is expected to take at least three years of investment.
Primary hypothesis:
Responders of participants who receive DBT will show greater decrease in BDNF methylation levels than patients receiving TAU.
Secondary Hypotheses:
336 studies on the registry are indexed under Personality Disorders; 48 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 60 is below the median of 75 across 229 interventional studies indexed under Personality Disorders.
Browse Personality Disorders studies →Mackay Memorial Hospital is the lead sponsor of 118 studies on the registry; 28 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Primary intervention group: receiving one year of dialectical behavior therapy
Behavioral: Dialectical behavior therapy
Comparison group: receiving one year of treatment as usual
Other: Treatment as Usual: any other drug or psychotherapy offered to participants, except DBT
Healthy control group
in standard DBT, we will employ all treatment modalities: a weekly individual (1 hour) and group (2 hours) session, available telephone consultation, and DBT consultation team. DBT participants will be assigned to the next available individual therapist and relevant skills training group. Groups have a minimum of four members before commencement and a maximum of twelve members. Entry to the skills group occurs only at the commencement of the next skills module.
Borderline Symptom Checklist (BSL-23)
To measure whether there were changes in scores of each symptoms regarding borderline personality disorder, such as number of times of attempting suicide, number of times of attempting self-harm, number of times of feeling emptiness, number of times of dissociations, number of times of risk-taking behaviors, number of times of substance or alcohol misuse etc.
Time frame: Changes in scores of BSL-23 before treatment, and at 4, 8, 12 months after starting the treatment
The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)
To measure changes in levels of patient health on a 4-point likert scale over questions of : feeling lack of interest? feeling sad or hopelessness, having problems sleeping, feeling fatigue or lack of energy, feeling poor appetite, or hyperphagia, feeling lack of confidence, unable to concentrate, or restlessness.
Time frame: Changes in scores of PHQ-9 before and at 4, 8, 12 months after starting the treatment
Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R)
To measure the following feelings within the week prior to assessment on a 5-point likert scale on items of whether having headache, dizziness, lack of interest, feeling guilty, sense of being control, blaming others for making troubles, forgetfulness, chest tightness, easy worrying, decreased energy level, suicidal ideation, auditory hallucinations, fearful, irritability, feeling lonely, palpitation, nausea, persecutory ideations, referential ideations, shortness of breath, numbness sensation, foreign body sensation, easy nervous, violent impulse, felt much difficulty in doing everything, or argumentative.
Time frame: Changes in scores before and at 4, 8, 12 months after starting the treatment
Plan to share: No
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Mackay Memorial Hospital