OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Jianpi Jieyu Decoction (JJD) for treating patients with mild-to-moderate depression of Xin (Heart)-Pi (Spleen) deficiency (XPD) syndrome. METHODS: In this multi-center, randomized, controlled study, 140 patients with mild-to-moderate depression of XPD syndrome were included from Xiyuan Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Botou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from December 2017 to December 2019. They were randomly divided into JJD group and paroxetine group by using a random number table, with 70 cases in each group. The patients in the JJD group were given JJD one dose per day (twice daily at morning and evening, 100 mL each time), and the patients in the paroxetine group were given paroxetine (10 mg/d in week 1; 20 mg/d in weeks 2-6), both orally administration for a total of 6 weeks. The primary outcome was the change of 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) score at week 6 from baseline. The secondary outcomes included the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) score, Traditional Chinese Medicine Symptom Scale (TCMSS), and Clinlcal Global Impression (CGI) scores at the 2nd, 4th, and 6th weekends of treatment, HAMD-17 response (defined as a reduction in score of >50%) and HAMD-17 remission (defined as a score of ⩽7) at the end of the 6th week of treatment. Adverse events (AEs) were also recorded. RESULTS: From baseline to week 6, the HAMD-17 scores decreased 10.2 ± 4.0 and 9.1 ± 4.9 points in the JJD and paroxetine groups, respectively (P=0.689). The HAMD-17 response occurred in 60% of patients in the JJD group and in 50% of those in the paroxetine group (P=0.292); HAMD-17 remission occurred in 45.7% and 30% of patients, respectively (P=0.128). The differences of CGI scores at the 6th week were not statistically significant (P>0.05). There were significant differences in HAMD-17 scores between the two groups at 2nd and 4th week (P=0.001 and P=0.014). The HAMA scores declined 8.1 ± 3.0 and 6.9 ± 4.3 points from baseline to week 6 in the JJD and paroxetine groups, respectively (P=0.905 between groups). At 4th week of treatment, there was a significant difference in HAMA between the two groups (P=0.037). TCMSS decreased 11.4 ± 5.1, and 10.1 ± 6.8 points in the JJD and paroxetine groups, respectively (P=0.080 between groups). At the 6th week, the incidence of AEs in the JJD group was significantly lower than that in the paroxetine group (7.14% vs. 22.86%, P<0.05). CONCLUSION Compared with paroxetine, JJD was associated with a significantly lower incidence of AEs in patients with mild-to-moderate depression of XPD syndrome, with no difference in efficacy at 6 weeks. (Trial registration No. ChiCTR2000040922).
Humans ; Paroxetine/adverse effects* ; Spleen ; Anxiety ; Syndrome ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Treatment Outcome ; Double-Blind Method

OBJECTIVESTo evaluate the effects of antidepressant Seroxat on premature ejaculation.

METHODSAfter having taken Seroxat 20 mg every noon for four weeks, the patients were asked to fill the investigating questionaire about the effects and side effects before and after the treatment.

RESULTSAfter the treatment, 43 cases in our study had increased their ejaculation latency time, enhanced the quality of their sexy lives and their wives', and had significant difference compared with pre-treatment(P < 0.001). They had good effects on improving premature ejaculation after taking Seroxat (11.26 +/- 5.79) days; and after having stopped taking seroxat for (20.94 +/- 8.04) days, the situation of premature ejaculation in 32 cases were as same as that of before. There were seven cases whose sexuality and oomph increased, and two cases whose sexuality were decreased. A few patients had constipation, dry in mouth, insomnia and itch in skin, after taking the drugs.

CONCLUSIONSAntidepressant Seroxat has rather good effects on premature ejaculation and should be used and studied further.

Adult ; Antidepressive Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Ejaculation ; drug effects ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Paroxetine ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological ; drug therapy ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical efficacy and adverse reactions of Paroxetine combined with electro-acupuncture (EA) in treating depression.

METHODSForty-two patients with depression were randomly assigned to the observation group (22 patients) treated with EA combined with Paroxetine, and the control group (20 patients) treated with Paroxetine alone, and the therapeutic course for both groups was 6 weeks. The therapeutic efficacy and adverse reactions were evaluated with scores by Hamilton depression scale (HAMD) and treatment emergent symptoms scale (TESS), respectively.

RESULTSHAMD scores determined at the end of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th week of the treatment course were significantly lower in the observation group than those in the control group (P<0.05). The significant improvement rate evaluated at the end of the 6-week treatment was remarkably higher in the observation group than that in the control group (72.7% vs 40.0%). No significant difference of TESS scores was found between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONEA combined with Paroxetine has better clinical efficacy than that of Paroxetine alone, with milder adverse reaction and quicker initiation of effect.

Adult ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Depression ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Paroxetine ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Treatment Outcome

Since exploding rates of modern mental diseases, application of antidepressants has increased. Worryingly, the antidepressant-induced liver injury has gradually become a serious health burden. Furthermore, since most of the knowledge about antidepressant hepatotoxicity are from pharmacovigilance and clinical case reports and lack of observational studies, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood and there is a lack of efficient treatment strategies. In this study, antidepressant paroxetine directly triggered inflammasome activation evidenced by caspase-1 activation and downstream effector cytokines interleukin(IL)-1β secretion. The pretreatment of echinatin, a bioactive component of licorice, completely blocked the activation. This study also found that echinatin effectively inhibited the production of inflammasome-independent tumor necrosis factor α(TNF)-α induced by paroxetine. Mechanistically, the accumulation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species(mtROS) was a key upstream event of paroxetine-induced inflammasome activation, which was dramatically inhibited by echinatin. In the lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-mediated idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury(IDILI) model, the combination of LPS and paroxetine triggered aberrant activation of the inflammasome to induce idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity, which was reversed by echinatin pretreatment. Notably, this study also found that various bioactive components of licorice had an inhibitory effect on paroxetine-triggered inflammasome activation. Meanwhile, multiple antidepressant-induced aberrant activation of the inflammasome could be completely blocked by echinatin pretreatment. In conclusion, this study provides a novel insight for mechanism of antidepressant-induced liver injury and a new strategy for the treatment of antidepressant-induced hepatotoxicity.
Animals ; Humans ; Mice ; Antidepressive Agents/adverse effects* ; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury, Chronic/prevention & control* ; Glycyrrhiza/chemistry* ; Inflammasomes/drug effects* ; Interleukin-1beta/metabolism* ; Lipopolysaccharides/toxicity* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein ; Paroxetine/adverse effects* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Chalcones/therapeutic use*