{
  "id": 7609536,
  "title": "Drug improves sexual function for patients with depression, study finds",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/15/drug-improves-sexual-function-for-patients-with-depression-study-finds",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-09-15T19:00:08.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Medical Xpress",
    "slug": "medical-xpress",
    "url": "https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-drug-sexual-function-patients-depression.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A new study led by University of Virginia researcher Anita H. Clayton has found that the drug lumateperone significantly improves sexual function in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) who have not adequately responded to standard antidepressants. The randomized controlled trial involved 480 patients, with those receiving lumateperone experiencing improvements across multiple aspects of sexual functioning, including desire, arousal, orgasm, and pleasure. The findings, published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, suggest that lumateperone could be a valuable add-on treatment for patients struggling with both depression and sexual dysfunction. The study also highlighted that women may benefit more from lumateperone, although more research is needed to confirm this. Lumateperone, an atypical antipsychotic medication, was approved by the FDA for use in treating schizophrenia and bipolar depression as an additional treatment for MDD when standard antidepressants have had limited success.",
  "summary": "Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and an inadequate response to standard antidepressants who received add-on treatment with the drug lumateperone had significantly improved sexual function, according to a new study led by a University of Virginia School of Medicine researcher.",
  "key_points": [
    "Lumateperone improves sexual function in MDD patients unresponsive to standard antidepressants.",
    "Women may benefit more from lumateperone, but further research needed to confirm."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}