Scientific Department, Velleja Research, Milan, Italy.
ASL TO1, Turin, Italy.
J Multidiscip Healthc. 2015 Jan 16;8:39-45. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S77766. eCollection 2015.
S-adenosyl-methionine (SAMe) is a common add-on treatment used to counteract depressive symptoms in subjects with mild-to-moderate depression, who are low responders to other antidepressant drugs. However, there is some concern about the possible impact of SAMe therapy on homocysteine levels. Betaine is known both to counteract high level of homocysteine in plasma and to increase liquor and plasma levels of SAMe, thus potentiating its effect.
To evaluate the role played by betaine, administered along with SAMe, in potentiating the antidepressive role played by SAMe administered as such.
The study enrolled 46 subjects with a diagnosis of mild-to-moderate depression according to the Beck Depression Inventory Scale II. All the subjects had a suboptimal control of their symptoms. After randomization, they were treated with adjunctive treatment with either Samyr(®) (enteric-coated SAMe) or DDM Metile(®) (enteric-coated SAMe plus betaine) for 90 days.
Both treatments acted similarly in improving symptoms such as anxiety, psychomotor agitation, feelings of helplessness and worthlessness, physical efficiency, and somatization, but treatment with DDM Metile(®) determined better statistically significant results following a 90-day therapy. Tolerability and compliance were overlapping in both the treatments.
The association of SAMe plus betaine seemed to demonstrate more effectiveness than SAMe alone when administered as an add-on therapy to subjects, affected by mild-to-moderate depression, who were low responders to conventional antidepressants.
S-腺苷甲硫氨酸（SAMe）是一种常用的附加治疗药物，用于对抗轻度至中度抑郁患者的抑郁症状，这些患者对其他抗抑郁药物反应不佳。然而，SAMe 治疗可能会影响同型半胱氨酸水平，这一点引起了一些关注。甜菜碱既能降低血浆中同型半胱氨酸的水平，又能增加脑脊髓液和血浆中 SAMe 的水平，从而增强其作用。
评估甜菜碱与 SAMe 联合使用对 SAMe 单独使用的抗抑郁作用的增强作用。
该研究纳入了 46 名根据贝克抑郁量表 II 诊断为轻度至中度抑郁的患者。所有患者的症状均未得到充分控制。随机分组后，他们接受了 SAMyr（®）（肠溶 SAMe）或 DDM Metile（®）（肠溶 SAMe 加甜菜碱）辅助治疗，为期 90 天。
两种治疗方法在改善焦虑、精神运动性激越、无助和无价值感、身体效率和躯体化等症状方面均有相似作用，但 DDM Metile（®）治疗在 90 天治疗后统计学上的结果更好。两种治疗方法的耐受性和依从性相似。
与 SAMe 单独治疗相比，SAMe 联合甜菜碱作为附加治疗药物，用于对常规抗抑郁药物反应不佳的轻度至中度抑郁患者，似乎更有效。
