Effect of soothing-liver and nourishing-heart acupuncture on early selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment onset for depressive disorder and related indicators of neuroimmunology:a randomized controlled clinical trial

OBJECTIVE:To observe the effect of soothing-liver and nourishing-heart acupuncture on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor(SSRIs) treatment effect onset in patients with depressive disorder and related indicators of neuroimmunology.METHODS:Overall,126 patients with depressive disorder were randomly divided into a medicine and acupuncture-medicine group using a random number table.Patients were treated for 6 consecutive weeks.The two groups were evaluated by the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale(MADRS) and Side Effects Rating Scale(SERS) to assess the effect of the soothing-liver and nourishing-heart acupuncture method on early onset of SSRI treatment effect.Changes in serum 5-hydroxytryptamine(5-HT) and inflammatory cytokines before and after treatment were recorded and compared between the medicine group and the acupuncture-medicine group.RESULTS:The acupuncture-medicine group had significantly lower MADRS scores at weeks 1,2,4,and 6 after treatment compared with the medicine group(P < 0.01).The acupuncture group had significantly lower SERS scores at weeks 1,2,4,and 6 after treatment compared with the medicine group(P < 0.01).At 6 weeks after treatment,serum 5-HT in the acupuncture-medicine group was significantly higher compared with the medicine group(P <0.01).lnterleukin-6(IL-6) in the acupuncture-medicine group was significantly lower than that in the medicine group(P < 0.01),whereas there was no significant difference in IL-1(3 between the groups(P > 0.05).Anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and IL-10 were significantly higher in the acupuncture-medicine group compared with the medicine group(P < 0.01,P < 0.05,respectively).CONCLUSION:The soothing-liver and nourishing-heart acupuncture method can effectively accelerate the onset of SSRI effects when treating depressive disorder and can significantly reduce the adverse reactions of SSRIs.Moreover,acupuncture can enhance serum 5-HT and regulate the balance of pro-inflammatory cytokines and anti-inflammatory cytokines.