Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine of South Building, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853, China.
Chin J Integr Med. 2011 Mar;17(3):190-9. doi: 10.1007/s11655-011-0666-6. Epub 2011 Feb 27.
To probe the relevance between depressive symptoms and hippocampal volume and its metabolites detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in depressed patients who were given electro-acupuncture (EA) combined with Fluoxetine before and after treatment.
A randomized, controlled trial was conducted. A total of 75 cases of mild or moderate depression were randomly assigned to two groups: the EA group which received EA combined with Fluoxetine; the Fluoxetine group which received Fluoxetine only as the control. The 17-item Hamilton Scale for Depression (HAMD) was used to assess the depression level. The relevance between the changes of the hippocampal volume and its metabolites, including N-acetyl aspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr) and choline containing compounds (Cho)/Cr, and the reduction rate of the HAMD score before and after treatment of the two groups were analyzed.
At the end of the treatment, the therapeutic response rates were not statistically different between the two groups (73.53% for the Fluoxetine group and 83.33% for the EA group, respectively). Compared to that of the Fluoxetine group, a significant difference was shown in the EA group in the reduction rate of the HAMD scores (P<0.05). There was a negative correlation between the therapeutic effect and the HAMD scores before treatment in both groups of patients. There was no significant difference in the hippocampal volume before and after treatment. The NAA/Cr ratio of both groups increased after treatment, with the EA group increasing more. There was a negative correlation between the rate of change of the NAA/Cr after treatment and the HAMD scores before treatment in the two groups. In the Fluoxetine group, the Cho/Cr ratio showed no significant difference before and after treatment, which had no relevance with the HAMD scores before treatment either. Meanwhile, in the EA group, the Cho/Cr ratio showed a significant difference before and after treatment, which also had a positive relevance with the HAMD scores before treatment.
There was a significant improvement in the hippocampal metabolites in depressed patients who treated by EA combined with Fluoxetine. Those differences showed relevance with the HAMD scores before treatment.
探讨电针（EA）联合氟西汀治疗前后抑郁患者的抑郁症状与磁共振成像（MRI）检测的海马体积及其代谢物的相关性。
采用随机对照试验。将 75 例轻中度抑郁症患者随机分为两组：EA 联合氟西汀组（EA 组）和氟西汀组（氟西汀组）。采用汉密尔顿抑郁量表（HAMD）17 项评定抑郁程度。分析两组治疗前后海马体积及其代谢物（包括 N-乙酰天冬氨酸（NAA）/肌酸（Cr）和胆碱化合物（Cho）/Cr）的变化与 HAMD 评分降低率的相关性。
治疗结束时，两组的治疗反应率无统计学差异（氟西汀组为 73.53%，EA 组为 83.33%）。与氟西汀组相比，EA 组 HAMD 评分降低率差异有统计学意义（P<0.05）。两组患者的治疗效果与治疗前 HAMD 评分呈负相关。治疗前后海马体积无统计学差异。两组治疗后 NAA/Cr 比值升高，EA 组升高更明显。两组治疗后 NAA/Cr 比值变化率与治疗前 HAMD 评分呈负相关。氟西汀组治疗前后 Cho/Cr 比值无统计学差异，与治疗前 HAMD 评分也无相关性。同时，EA 组治疗前后 Cho/Cr 比值有统计学差异，与治疗前 HAMD 评分呈正相关。
电针联合氟西汀治疗抑郁患者的海马代谢物有明显改善，这些差异与治疗前的 HAMD 评分相关。
