The Effect of Therapeutic Horticulture on Depression and Kynurenine Pathways

The article presents the results of a study conducted to assess change in depression severity, and modification in the kynurenine pathway at participants. Presently, depression is one of the most regularly encountered mental illnesses. Research based on experimental studies indicated the beneficial...

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Published inNotulae botanicae Horti agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca Vol. 47; no. 3; pp. 804 - 812
Main Authors HITTER (BURU), Timea, KÁLLAY, Éva, OLAR, Loredana E., ŞTEFAN, Răzvan, BUTA, Erzsebet, CHIOREAN, Silvia, CANTOR, Maria, PAPUC, Ionel
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cluj-Napoca Notulae Botanicae Horti Agrobotanici Cluj-Napoca 24.07.2019
Subjects
Biological effects
Biological properties
Biological samples
Horticulture
Kynurenic acid
Mental depression
Spectrophotometry
Statistical methods
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Summary:The article presents the results of a study conducted to assess change in depression severity, and modification in the kynurenine pathway at participants. Presently, depression is one of the most regularly encountered mental illnesses. Research based on experimental studies indicated the beneficial effects of activities conducted in nature are reducing self-reported anger, fatigue, anxiety, stress and depression. The present study was conducted by measuring depression on both the subjective (Beck Depression Inventory) and the objective (spectrophotometric analysis) levels, to obtain more relevant information regarding the real change in depression levels, during the therapeutic horticulture intervention. Consequently, depression is assessed with the BDI doubled the data by assessing the levels of kynurenine and kynurenic acid obtained from biological samples. Results indicate that the levels of depression measured with the BDI have significantly decreased after the Therapeutic Horticulture Sesions. An even better result regards the fact that the significance of this change was not only statistical, but also clinical. Analysing the kynurerine and kynurenic acid concentrations, differences were observed amongst subject during the research study.
ISSN:0255-965X
1842-4309
DOI:10.15835/nbha47311544