Strong Robert E, Marchant Barrie K, Reimherr Frederick W, Williams Erika, Soni Poonam, Mestas Ruth
Mood Disorders Clinic, Department of Psychiatry, University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Depress Anxiety. 2009;26(3):273-8. doi: 10.1002/da.20538.
Bright visible-spectrum light therapy has proven effective in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and recent basic research suggests that blue wavelengths approximately 470 nm account for that effectiveness. To more stringently test the importance of these wavelengths, bright red-light was used for the placebo (control) condition.
Thirty subjects meeting DSM-IV criteria for SAD were randomized to narrow-band light-emitting diode panels emitting blue- or red-light in this 3-week, parallel, double-blind trial. Twenty-five subjects participated in an open-label blue-light follow-up. Subjects were divided in a blinded, post hoc manner into two groups: SAD only and those experiencing depression with seasonal intensification. The outcome was assessed using Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 item version (HAMD-17) and the Structured Interview Guide for the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-SAD version. Responders were defined by Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale.
HAMD-17 scores improved more under the blue-light condition (51%) than under the red-light condition (32%) (P=.05). Further, in the blue arm 60% of subjects responded compared with 13% in the red arm (P=.01). During the open-label phase, subjects from both double-blind arms improved over baseline. SAD alone patients responded numerically better to treatment than those experiencing depression with seasonal intensification during both treatment periods.
Narrow bandwidth blue-light therapy proved superior to red-light therapy. Blue-light therapy produced results similar to both previous 10,000 lux visible-spectrum light studies and many medication studies. The use of bright red panels supported claims that wavelengths of approximately 470 nm account for the documented effectiveness of light therapy.
明亮的可见光谱光疗法已被证明对季节性情感障碍（SAD）的治疗有效，最近的基础研究表明，约470纳米的蓝光波长是其有效性的原因。为了更严格地测试这些波长的重要性，在安慰剂（对照）条件下使用了明亮的红光。
在这项为期3周的平行双盲试验中，30名符合DSM-IV标准的SAD患者被随机分配到发射蓝光或红光的窄带发光二极管面板组。25名患者参加了开放标签的蓝光随访。受试者以盲法、事后方式分为两组：仅患有SAD的患者和伴有季节性加重抑郁的患者。使用汉密尔顿抑郁量表17项版本（HAMD-17）和汉密尔顿抑郁量表-SAD版本的结构化访谈指南评估结果。根据临床总体印象改善量表定义应答者。
蓝光条件下HAMD-17评分的改善（51%）比红光条件下（32%）更明显（P = 0.05）。此外，蓝光组60%的受试者有反应，而红光组为13%（P = 0.01）。在开放标签阶段，两个双盲组的受试者均比基线有所改善。在两个治疗期内，仅患有SAD的患者在数值上对治疗的反应比伴有季节性加重抑郁的患者更好。
窄带宽蓝光疗法被证明优于红光疗法。蓝光疗法产生的结果与之前的两项10000勒克斯可见光谱光研究以及许多药物研究相似。使用明亮的红色面板支持了以下观点，即约470纳米的波长是光疗法已记录有效性的原因。
