Abstract
Introduction and Aim: Depression in psychiatry covers a large area of mental pathology and it is one of the most complex problems of modern medicine with broad implications for the health of the individual and the society as a whole. Depression is also a frequent companion of alcohol addiction. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the antidepressant drug sertraline on the length of QT interval in depressed patients with alcohol dependence. Patients and methods: This research included male patients (older than 18 years of age) suffering from alcohol addiction, who were also diagnosed with depression, that is, depressive disorder, at the beginning of hospitalisation, on the basis of DSM-IV (Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders) criterion and positive Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD). The study included 49 patients treated with antidepressant sertraline for 20 days. In our study, the global QTc interval (12 leads) was determined automatically by applying ECG device of the producer and type "Schiller Cardiovit AT-1", which uses "SCHILLER ECG Measurement and Interpretation Software for Children and Adult ECGs". Measured/empirical values of data were statistically processed in SPSS 16.0 programme package for Windows. Methods of descriptive statistics and methods of statistic testing of hypotheses were used. Results: In our study, in spite of the vulnerability of patients due to the heart damage and the liver dysfunction arising from alcohol consumption, as well as altered patients' drugs metabolism, no elongation of QTc interval resulting from the application of sertraline was established (p = 0.735). The average prolongation of QTc interval of 1.633 ms was observed (95% CI = 8.005 ms, 11.270 ms). Conclusion: Our study does not indicate that the antidepressant drug sertraline has a statistically significant effect on the prolongation of the QT interval of depressed patients with alcohol dependence.
Highlights
Introduction and AimDepression in psychiatry covers a large area of mental pathology and it is one of the most complex problems of modern medicine with broad implications for the health of the individual and the society as a whole
Depression in psychiatry covers a large area of mental pathology and it is one of the most complex problems of modern medicine with broad implications on the general health of the individual as well as on the society as a whole
Significantly lower Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) score values were ascertained after sertraline administration (p < 0.001) (Table 1)
Summary
Introduction and AimDepression in psychiatry covers a large area of mental pathology and it is one of the most complex problems of modern medicine with broad implications for the health of the individual and the society as a whole. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of antidepressant drug sertraline on the length of the QT interval of depressed patients with alcohol dependence This researched included male patients (older than 18 years of age) suffering from alcohol addiction and treated at the Department of Addictive Diseases of the Banja Luka Psychiatric Clinic of the University Clinical Centre of the Srpska Republic and the Psychiatric. Values of gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), as indirect indicators of the intensity of alcoholism and liver cell lesions (hepatocytes), as well as electrolyte status (Sodium, Potassium, Calcium and Magnesium) and values of creatine kinase isoenzyme MB (CK-MB) were determined in these patients at the beginning of the study and on the twentieth day upon admission to treatment. These parameters were determined in serum by applying Olympus AU680 chemical analyser (Olympus America Inc.; Centerville, Pa., USA)
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