Acupuncture/electroacupuncture enhances anti- depressant effect of Seroxat： the Symptom Checklist-90 scores

• Published in: Neural regeneration research Vol. 9; no. 2; pp. 213 - 222
• Main Authors: Chen, Junqi, Lin, Weirong, Wang, Shengxu, Wang, Chongqi, Li, Ganlong, Qu, Shanshan, Huang, Yong, Zhang, Zhangjin, Xiao, Wei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 15.01.2014; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; The Third Afifliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China%The Shenzhen TCM Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China%School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China%School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd
• Subjects: Acupuncture; Antidepressants; Anxiety; Clinical Practice; Complications and side effects; Depression, Mental; Dosage and administration; Drug therapy; Hostility; Mental depression; Patient outcomes; Variance analysis; 原发性; 因子得分; 抑郁症; 治疗效果; 电针; 症状自评量表; 针灸治疗; 问卷调查; China; anxiety; primary unipolar depression; Symptom Checklist-90; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor; neural regeneration; Seroxat; nerve regeneration; electroacupuncture; NSFC grant; acupuncture and moxibustion; selective sero-tonin reuptake inhibitor
• ISSN: 1673-5374; 1876-7958
• DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.125353

One hundred and five patients with primary unipolar depression were randomly divided into three groups： drug group （Seroxat administration）, acupuncture group （Seroxat plus acupunc- ture）, and electroacupuncture group （Seroxat plus acupuncture plus electroacupuncture）. Patients＇ symptoms were evaluated using a psychometric questionnaire, the Symptom Check- list-90, before intervention and after 2, 4, 6 and 10 weeks of treatment. The individual factor scores and the total score from the Symptom Checldist-90 reduced in all three groups as treat- ment progressed. In the acupuncture and electroacupuncture groups, the total score and the factor scores for obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression, and anxiety were significantly lower than those in the drug group. There was no significant difference in the factor scores or total scores between the acupuncture and electroacupuncture groups. Some factor scores in the electroacupuncture group, such as somatization, depression, hostility, and phobic anxiety, were increased at 10 weeks compared with the respective score immediately after the course of electroacupuncture at 6 weeks. Our findings indicate that administration of Seroxat alone or in combination with acupuncture/electroacupuncture can produce a significant effect in patients with primary unipolar depression. Furthermore, acupuncture/electroacupuncture has a rapid onset of therapeutic effect and produces a noticeable improvement in obsessive-compulsive, de- pressive and anxiety symptoms.