Journal of Capital Medical University ›› 2016, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (2): 176-180.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-7795.2016.02.014

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Effect of acupuncture on the serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor level in depressive patients with hyperactivity of “Fire” due to “Yin” deficiency

Wang Qunsong, Ji Xiangdong, Zhu Wenxian, Yu Haiyan   

  1. Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine Psychiatry, Wuxi Mental Health Center, Wuxi 214151, Jiangsu Province, China
  • Received:2016-01-20 Online:2016-04-21 Published:2016-04-14
  • Supported by:
    This study was supported by National Twelfth Five-year Science and Technology Support Program (2011BAI08B01), National Natural Science Foundation of China (81302516, 81373099), Key Project of Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7131002), Humanities and Social Sciences Fund of the Ministry of Education, China (13YJCZH090).

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Abstract: Objective To evaluate the effect of acupuncture on the serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) level and the clinical efficacy in patients with depressive disorder of hyperactivity of "fire" due to "yin" deficiency type. Methods Sixty-four depressive patients with hyperactivity of fire due to yin deficiency were randomly allocated into two groups. The trial group (n=32) were treated with acupuncture and the control group (n=32) were treated with mirtazapine for 8 weeks, respectively. The serum BDNF concentration was tested for every subject before and after the treatment; meanwhile, the HAMD-24 was assessed at the baseline, 4-week and 8-week after treatment. The between-group differences were analyzed, and the side effects were evaluated using the Asberg Rating Scale for Side Effects (SERS). Results The total HAMD scores were comparable between the two groups before treatment. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed a significant main effect of time (F=381.87, P=0.000), and the post-hoc analysis (least-significant difference test) indicated that the HAMD scores after 4-week treatment were lower than those of the baseline, and the HAMD scores further decreased after 8-week treatment (All P<0.05), in both groups; whereas there was no significant difference between the two groups at any time point (All P>0.05). Neither the interactive effect of time × group nor the between-group effect was significant (F=0.063, P=0.939, and F=0.008, P=0.931, respectively). The reduction rate of HAMD at 8-weekend of the trial group was comparable to that of the control group (71.88% vs 75.00%, P>0.05). The serum BDNF levels of both groups increased significantly (both P<0.05) after treatment but there was no significant between-group difference either at the baseline or at the follow-up (both P>0.05). After 8-week treatment, the SERS score of the trial group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Acupuncture could significantly improve the serum BDNF levels in depressive patients with hyperactivity of "Fire" due to "Yin" deficiency, and it has comparable anti-depressive effects to mirtazapine without causing obvious side effects.

Key words: depressive disorder, hyperactivity of Fire due to Yin deficiency, acupuncture, brain-derived neurotrophic factor

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