COVID survivors react better to antidepressants than non-COVID persons, reveals research

A new study has found that depression patients who have suffered from COVID-19 respond well to standard antidepressants as compared to those who haven't had COVID.

According to the research published in the journal 'European Neuropsychopharmacology', depressed patients respond better to standard antidepressants post COVID-19. The researchers found around 40% of the COVID patients report advancements in depression within six months of the deadly infection.

The researchers cited pain created by coronavirus as the main reason for the development of depression. The researchers noted that around 90% of patients who have suffered from COVID respond to SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors), significantly more than what would normally be expected.

Covid-19 survivors reacted well to the anti-depression drugs: Research

While elaborating the study, lead researcher Mario Mazza MD, San Raffaele University, Milano said,

"We know that COVID has led to an epidemic of mental health problems. Post-COVID depression is a serious issue, with around 40% of COVID patients developing depression within six months of infection. But this study indicates that patients who have had COVID have a better chance of managing their depression than we thought."

Another researcher, who treated as many as 58 patients who had developed post-COVID depression with SSRIs, reacted well to sertraline, paroxetine, fluvoxamine, and citalopram. According to the research data accumulated by the professors of Francesco Benedetti's Laboratory of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychobiology, nearly 91% of the patients who were not responding well to the treatment, responded well to the anti-depression pills after contracting COVID-19.

Scientists examining the role of inflammation in post-COVID depression

The data revealed that patients responded well within four weeks of COVID infection. 

"This is a pilot study, but it does indicate that post-COVID depression is treatable. We would normally have expected around 40 of the 58 patients to have responded positively to treatment, but in fact, we found that 53 of the 58 responded," Dr Mazza said.

The researchers said that the treatment response was measured using the standard Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. A patient is considered to have responded if they show a 50% reduction in the scale after four weeks of treatment.

"Considering the anti-inflammatory and antiviral properties of SSRI, we hypothesised that post-COVID depression triggered by infection and sustained by infection-related systemic inflammation could particularly benefit from antidepressant treatment. We are now taking this work forward to a larger scale trial," Dr Mazza added.

"We also want to investigate whether SSRIs can also help with other post-COVID symptoms, such as cognitive impairment and fatigue, and to look at the role of inflammation in post-COVID depression," Dr Mazza explained.

With inputs from ANI

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