Effects of Herbal Pair of Semen Ziziphi Spinosae and Albizia Julibrissin Flower on Cognitive Function and Serum BDNF among Depression Patients / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

ABSTRACT

This study was aimed to observe effects of herbal pair of semen Ziziphi Spinosae (SZS) and A lbizia Julib-rissin flower (AJF) on cognitive function and serum BDNF among depression patients. A total of 60 depression pa-tients were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups. In the SZS-AJF group, 30 patients were administered with SZS-AJF decoction. In the control group, 30 patients were administered with venlafaxine hydrochloride sus-tained-release tablets. Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and the serum-brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were detected before treatment and after six weeks of treatment. The results showed that there were no significant differences on the HAMD score, WCST (Response Administered (Ra), Categories Completed (Cc), Correct Responses (Cr), Perseverative Errors (Pe), Non-perseverative Errors (Npe)), serum BDNF before and after treatment between two groups. Compared with pretreatment, HAMD score, Ra, Cc, Cr, serum BDNF were increased after treatment in both groups. The Pe and Npe were decreased after treatment. There was sta-tistical significance between pretreatment and posttreatment (P< 0.05, or P< 0.01). It was concluded that the herbal pair of SZS-AJF has anti-depressant effect. It can improve cognitive function of depression patients. The anti-de-pressant mechanism of herbal pair of SZS-AJF may be related to the increasing of serum BDNF level.