Abstract
The World Health Organization estimates the number of people suffering from depression to be over 264 million. Current monoamine transmission modulating therapeutics, even with proper adherence and acceptable tolerability, are not effective for nearly one third of the patients, leading clinicians to explore other therapeutic options such as electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, ketamine infusions, and, more recently, glabellar botulinum toxin, BoNT, injections. The scale and mechanism of antidepressant action of BoNT is unclear and maybe hypothetically attributed to the disruption of proprioceptive facial feedback reinforcing negative emotions. Here we verify the antidepressant effect of botulinum toxin by analysis of over 40 thousand BoNT treatment reports out of thirteen million postmarketing safety reports in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System, FAERS. The results of the analysis indicate that patients who received BoNT injections to treat hyperhidrosis, facial wrinkles, migraine prophylaxis, spasticity, and spasms, had a significantly lower number of depression reports when compared to patients undergoing different treatments for the same conditions. These findings suggest that the antidepressant effect of BoNT is significant, and, surprisingly, is observed for a broad range of injection sites.
Highlights
The World Health Organization estimates the number of people suffering from depression to be over 264 million
In a more dramatic manifestation of the antidepressant effects, there were no reports of depression or related adverse events (AEs) in the botulinum toxin (BoNT) sialorrhea—parotid and submandibular glands sub-cohort
There was a decrease in depression reports where BoNT was injected into the detrusor muscle in the neurological and urinary bladder disorders cohort, but the reduced ROR value did not reach statistical significance (0.77 [0.43, 1.43]) (Fig. 3)
Summary
The World Health Organization estimates the number of people suffering from depression to be over 264 million. The results of the analysis indicate that patients who received BoNT injections to treat hyperhidrosis, facial wrinkles, migraine prophylaxis, spasticity, and spasms, had a significantly lower number of depression reports when compared to patients undergoing different treatments for the same conditions. These findings suggest that the antidepressant effect of BoNT is significant, and, surprisingly, is observed for a broad range of injection sites. It is considered generally safe with most common side effects being hypersensitivity, injection side reactions, and other side effects specific to the injection
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have