Zheng Wei, Zhou Yan-Ling, Wang Cheng-Yu, Lan Xiao-Feng, Zhang Bin, Zhou Su-Miao, Yan Su, Yang Ming-Zhe, Nie Sha, Ning Yu-Ping
The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University (Guangzhou Huiai Hospital), Guangzhou, China.
Ther Adv Psychopharmacol. 2021 May 17;11:20451253211014320. doi: 10.1177/20451253211014320. eCollection 2021.
Growing evidence suggests that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) may be involved in the neuronal mechanisms underlying both depression aetiology and the response to ketamine treatments. The aim of this study was to examine whether changes in plasma VEGF levels are associated with the antidepressant effects of repeated ketamine infusions in patients with depression.
Ninety-six patients with depression were enrolled and received six ketamine infusions during a 12-day period. Depressive symptom severity and plasma VEGF levels were measured by the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) respectively, at baseline, 13 days and 26 days.
Despite a significant improvement in MADRS scores after patients received six ketamine infusions ( < 0.001), no changes in plasma VEGF levels were observed at 13 days when compared with baseline. Moreover, no significant difference in plasma VEGF levels at baseline and 13 days was found between ketamine responders and nonresponders. No association was found between the antidepressant effects of repeated ketamine treatments and plasma VEGF levels.
This study indicated that VEGF may not be a potential predictor of antidepressant response to repeated intravenous administration of ketamine in patients with depression.
越来越多的证据表明，血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）可能参与了抑郁症病因学和氯胺酮治疗反应的神经元机制。本研究的目的是检验血浆VEGF水平的变化是否与抑郁症患者重复输注氯胺酮的抗抑郁作用相关。
纳入96例抑郁症患者，在12天内接受6次氯胺酮输注。分别在基线、13天和26天时，通过蒙哥马利-阿斯伯格抑郁评定量表（MADRS）和酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）测量抑郁症状严重程度和血浆VEGF水平。
尽管患者接受6次氯胺酮输注后MADRS评分有显著改善（<0.001），但与基线相比，13天时血浆VEGF水平未观察到变化。此外，氯胺酮反应者和无反应者在基线和13天时的血浆VEGF水平无显著差异。重复氯胺酮治疗的抗抑郁作用与血浆VEGF水平之间未发现关联。
本研究表明，VEGF可能不是抑郁症患者重复静脉注射氯胺酮抗抑郁反应的潜在预测指标。
