Men are less likely to achieve a full remission of their depression

Men with depression may be less likely than women to get relief from a commonly used, inexpensive antidepressant drug, a new national study from the University of Michigan Depression Center finds. But many members of both sexes may find that it helps ease their depression symptoms.

The persistence of a gender difference in response to the drug — even after the researchers accounted for many complicating factors — suggests that there’s a real biological difference in the way the medication affects women compared with men. The reasons for that difference are still unclear, but further studies are now examining hormonal variations that may play a role.

The study involved citalopram, a commonly used antidepressant that is available both as a generic drug and under the brand name Celexa.

The new findings, which represent the largest and most rigorous analysis ever of gender differences in response to an antidepressant, are published online in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.