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Antidepressant changes brain differently in depressed, healthy people

Researchers in the study said more research will need to be done because of the wide number of conditions SSRIs such as Zoloft are prescribed for.

By Stephen Feller

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Sept. 4 (UPI) -- The antidepressant sertraline, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, or SSRI, marketed as Zoloft, was found in a study with nonhuman primates to have different effects on depressed and healthy brains.

The researchers said there have not been many studies done on the effects of SSRIs, including Zoloft, on the brains of people without depression. They note, however, the drugs are prescribed several disorders other than depression, including bulimia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and sexual dysfunction.

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"These observations are important for human health because Zoloft is widely prescribed for a number of disorders other than depression," said Dr. Carol Shively, a professor of pathology and comparative medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, in a press release.

Researchers fed 41 middle-aged monkeys a diet similar to adult Americans of the same age for 18 months while tracking their depressive behavior. Female monkeys were chosen because depression is twice as common in women than men, and antidepressant use is most common in middle-aged women.

After monitoring their diet and tracking behaviors, the researchers split the monkeys into two groups balanced for body weight, body mass index and depressive behavior. One group received daily doses of sertraline and the other received a placebo for the next 18 months.

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MRIs showed that the anterior cingulate cortex in depressed monkeys grew larger, while that region and the hippocampus shrunk in healthy-brained monkeys taking the drug. Both areas of the brain play a role in depression, and the results in monkeys mirrored differences in brain structures seen in depressed and non-depressed humans.

"The study's findings regarding the different effects of sertraline on brain-region volumes in depressed versus non-depressed subjects are compelling," Shively said. "But given the number of different disorders for which SSRIs are prescribed, the findings need to be investigated further in patient populations to see if these drugs produce similar effects in humans."

The study is published in Neuropharmacology.

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