Gender Differences in Depression:Mechanistic Insights from Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine and Advances in Antidepressant Research
10.13241/j.cnki.pmb.2025.13.019
- VernacularTitle:抑郁症性别异质性的中西医机制解析及抗抑郁研究进展
- Author:
Hao-quan TIAN
1
;
Jin PAN
;
Lu-si XU
;
Xiao-yan XUE
;
Qian-cheng MAO
;
Liu-xuan HUANG
;
Ying-ying ZHU
;
Ke MA
Author Information
1. 山东中医药大学康复医学院 山东济南 250355
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Depression;
Gender difference;
Traditional Chinese medicine;
Western medicine;
Pathogenesis;
Body constitution
- From:
Progress in Modern Biomedicine
2025;25(13):2231-2240,2153
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Depression is a highly heterogeneous psychiatric disorder with complex pathogenesis influenced by the interplay of biological,psychological,and social-environmental factors.Based on the 2021 edition of the Chinese Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Depressive Disorders,which explicitly identify gender as a significant risk factor for depression onset,this paper systematically reviews the gender-differentiated pathogenesis and therapeutic advances in depression from both traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)and Western medical perspectives.In Western medicine,a large number of studies have demonstrated the sex-specific mechanism of estrogen/testosterone fluctuations and monoamine transmitter system regulation.While in TCM,although the constitution theory proposes that there are significant gender differences in congenital constitution and that qi depression and qi deficiency are associated with susceptibility to depression,current evidence primarily relies on cross-sectional surveys and lacks validation through high-quality RCTs.Compared with Western medicine,the direct research on gender-differentiated antidepressant effects in TCM remains relatively underdeveloped.In future study,it may be possible to deepen and improve the research on anti-depression in TCM from the biological markers of particular constitutions in the gender dimension.This paper advocates establishing a bio-psycho-social integrated intervention model,advancing mechanistic exploration through prospective cohort studies and multi-omics technologies,and promoting precision diagnosis and treatment systems based on gender differences,and to form a three-dimensional diagnosis and treatment and research system that covers biomarkers,social role assessment,and TCM constitution identification,in order to provide a new theoretical framework and a practical pathway for the precise medical treatment of depression.
