Treatment of major depression reduces arterial stiffness

Introduction Major Depression is twice more common in women and evidence suggests that sex differences may exist in antidepressant pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics1. Additionally, depression is recognized as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. We previously showed, in a pilot study of 20 female severely depressed inpatients, that arterial stiffness (measured by Pulse Wave Velocity, PWV) was increased in comparison to non-depressed controls2. In that study, increased arterial stiffness (PWV) was decreased following combination of shortterm antidepressant, antipsychotic and/or electroconvulsive treatment. These findings suggest that arterial stiffness may partly mediate the observed association between depression and cardiovascular adverse events in the short-term. Results A total od 72 patients have been included and so far 36 patients (13 men, 23 women) have completed their follow-up vascular assessments after a 21-24 weeks long treatment period.