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Published on: August 15, 2017
Electroconvulsive therapy improves clinical manifestations of treatment-resistant depression without changing serum
Chiara Rapinesi1, Georgios D Kotzalidis2, Martina Curto3
1NESMOS Department (Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Sensory Organs), Sapienza University of Rome, School of Medicine and Psychology, Sant׳Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy; Neuropsychiatry Department, Villa Rosa, Suore Hospitaliere of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Viterbo, Italy.
Abstract:
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). It may act through intracellular process modulation, but its exact mechanism is still unknown. Animal research supports a neurotrophic effect for ECT. We aimed to investigate the association between changes in serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (sBDNF) levels and clinical improvement following ECT in patients with TRD. Twenty-one patients with TRD (2 men, 19 women; mean age, 63.5 years; S.D., 11.9) were assessed through the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), and the Clinical Global Impressions scale, Severity (CGIs) before and after a complete ECT cycle. At the same time-points, patients underwent blood withdrawal for measuring sBDNF levels. ECT significantly reduced HDRS, BPRS, and CGIS scores, but not sBDNF levels. No significant correlation was found between sBDNF changes, and each of HDRS, BPRS, and CGIs score changes. sBDNF levels in TRD patients were low both at baseline and post-ECT. Our results do not support that improvements in TRD following ECT are mediated through increases in sBDNF levels.
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