Login Register Cart 0
Generic placeholder image

Current Drug Discovery Technologies

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1570-1638
ISSN (Online): 1875-6220

Back
Journal Home About Journal Editorial Board Journal Insight Current Issue Volumes/Issues
Subscribe
Clinical Trial

Comparing Effectiveness of a Combined Herbal Drug Based on Echium Amoenum with Citalopram in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder

Author(s): Majid Anushiravani, Ali A. Manteghi, Ali Taghipur and Mahdi Eslami*

Volume 16, Issue 2, 2019

Page: [232 - 238] Pages: 7

DOI: 10.2174/1570163815666180219115844

Price: $65

Abstract

Background: According to new studies, only 60% of depressed patients respond to pharmaceutical treatment while suffering from their side effects. Natural products as adjuvant or alternative therapies should be examined to find safer and more effective ways to cope with depression.

Objective: To find out the potential benefits of a combined herbal drug based on Echium amoenum compared with citalopram in the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder..

Design and Setting: In psychiatry clinics of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, 50 patients who met the criteria for Major Depressive Disorder based on DSM-5 were studied in a parallel randomized controlled trial.

Intervention: Subjects were randomly assigned to receive Echium amoenum compound syrup (EACS) or citalopram tablet for 8 weeks.

Outcome Measures: The efficacy of treatments and recurrence of disease were surveyed and compared according to Hamilton depression rating scale at weeks 0, 4, 8, 12.

Results: Patients in both groups of citalopram and EACS showed remarkable reduction in scores of Hamilton questionnaire. At the eighth week of treatment, the mean scores in EACS group were significantly lower than citalopram group (p-value = 0.03). 52% of patients suffered from various complications in citalopram group while just 12% of patients in EACS group reported few complications.

Conclusion: Clinical efficacy of this herbal drug was significantly higher than citalopram, and complications were also less and lower in EACS group. Further studies with larger groups and para-clinical assessments such as serologic tests and QEEG would improve our understanding of the impacts and mechanisms of EACS.

Keywords: Major depressive disorder, citalopram, Echium amoenum, citalopram, DSM-5, ICD-10.

Graphical Abstract

[1]
Sadock B, Sadock V. Kaplan & Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry 1. 11th ed. New York: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2015.
[2]
Dwyer AV, Whitten DL, Hawrelak JA. Herbal medicines, other than St. John’s Wort, in the treatment of depression: A systematic review. Altern Med Rev 2011; 16(1): 40-9.
[3]
WHO. Depression 2012. Available from: www.who.int/media-centre/factsheets/fs369/en [cited 2014 Nov 16].
[4]
The world health report 2001. Available from: www.who.int/ whr/2001/chapter2/en/index2.html [cited 2014 Nov 16].
[5]
Hale MW, Raison CL, Lowry CA. Integrative physiology of depression and antidepressant drug action: Implications for serotonergic mechanisms of action and novel therapeutic strategies for treatment of depression. Pharmacol Ther 2013; 137(1): 108-18.
[6]
Keller MB, Lavori PW, Mueller TI, et al. Time to recovery, chronicity, and levels of psychopathology in major depression. A 5-year prospective follow-up of 431 subjects. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1992; 49(10): 809-16.
[7]
Academy of Medical Sciences Islamic Republic of Iran 2013 Available from: http://www.ams.ac.ir/index.php/2013-11-12-06-00-06/802 [cited 2015 Jul 25].
[8]
Citalopram Oral Solution 2014. Available from: http://www. drugs.com/pro/citalopram-oral-solution.html [cited 2014 Nov 17].
[9]
Koenig AM, Thase ME. First-line pharmacotherapies for depression - what is the best choice? Pol Arch Med Wewn 2009; 119(7-8): 478-86.
[10]
Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with major depressive disorder (revision). American Psychiatric Association. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157(4)(Suppl.): 1-45.
[11]
Bauer M, Bschor T, Pfennig A, et al. World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) Guidelines for Biological Treatment of Unipolar Depressive Disorders in Primary Care. Psychiatr Prax 2007; 8(2): 67-104.
[12]
Olfson M, Marcus SC, Druss B, Elinson L, Tanielian T, Pincus HA. National trends in the outpatient treatment of depression. JAMA 2002; 287(2): 203-9.
[13]
Cassano GB, Musetti L, Soriani A, Savino M. The pharmacologic treatment of depression: Drug selection criteria. Pharmacopsychiatry 1993; 26(Suppl. 1): 17-23.
[14]
Melzer J, Deter H-C, Uehleke B. CAM in Psychiatry. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2013; 2013: 293248.
[15]
Unutzer J, Klap R, Sturm R, et al. Mental disorders and the use of alternative medicine: Results from a national survey. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157(11): 1851-7.
[16]
Wahlstrom M, Sihvo S, Haukkala A, Kiviruusu O, Pirkola S, Isometsa E. Use of mental health services and complementary and alternative medicine in persons with common mental disorders. Acta Psychiatr Scand 2008; 118(1): 73-80.
[17]
Zargari A. Medicinal Plants. Tehran: University of Tehran press 2012.
[18]
Sarris J, Panossian A, Schweitzer I, Stough C, Scholey A. Herbal medicine for depression, anxiety and insomnia: A review of psychopharmacology and clinical evidence. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2011; 21(12): 841-60.
[19]
Mischoulon M, Rosenbaum J, Jerrold F. Natural medications for psychiatric disorders: Considering the alternatives. Mashhad: Mashhad University of Medical Sciences 2002.
[20]
Avicenna Tafrih al Qolub. Tehran: Iran University of Medical Sciences 2004.
[21]
Avicenna Canon of Medicine. Kashan: Morsal 2008.
[22]
Eshbili M. A’mdah Altabib fi Ma’refah Al-nabat. Beirut: Dar Alqarb Alislami 1995.
[23]
Abdollah M. Tuhfah-i Khānī. Tehran: Iran University of Medical Sciences 2004.
[24]
Sayyah M, Sayyah M, Kamalinejad M. A preliminary randomized double blind clinical trial on the efficacy of aqueous extract of Echium amoenum in the treatment of mild to moderate major depression. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2006; 30(1): 166-9.
[25]
Heidari M, Soltanpour A, Naseri M, Kazemnezhad A. The effect of Lemon Balm (Melissa Officinalis) on depression in patients after coronary artery bypass graft. Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs 2015; 4: 2.
[26]
Lopresti AL, Drummond PD. Saffron (Crocus sativus) for depression: a systematic review of clinical studies and examination of underlying antidepressant mechanisms of action. Hum Psychopharmacol 2014; 29(6): 517-27.
[27]
Faryadian S, Sydmohammadi A, Khosravi A, Kashiri M, Faryadayn P, Abasi N. Aqueous extract of Echlum amoenum elevate CSF serotonin and dopamine level in depression rat. Biomed Pharmacol J 2014; 7(1): 137-42.
[28]
Lin SH, Chou ML, Chen WC, et al. A medicinal herb, Melissa officinalis L. ameliorates depressive-like behavior of rats in the forced swimming test via regulating the serotonergic neurotransmitter. J Ethnopharmacol 2015; 175: 266-72.
[29]
Hosseinzadeh H, Karimi G, Niapoor M. editors. Antidepressant effect of crocus sativus l. stigma extracts and their constituents, crocin and safranal, in mice2004: International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), Leuven, Belgium.

Rights & Permissions Print Cite
Article Metrics
57
4
© 2024 Bentham Science Publishers | Privacy Policy