Increased Serum Levels of Oxytocin in 'Treatment Resistant Depression in Adolescents (TRDIA)' Group

• Published in: PloS one 2016-08, Vol.11 (8), p.e0160767-e0160767
• Main Authors: Sasaki, Tsuyoshi, Hashimoto, Kenji, Oda, Yasunori, Ishima, Tamaki, Yakita, Madoka, Kurata, Tsutomu, Kunou, Masaru, Takahashi, Jumpei, Kamata, Yu, Kimura, Atsushi, Niitsu, Tomihisa, Komatsu, Hideki, Hasegawa, Tadashi, Shiina, Akihiro, Hashimoto, Tasuku, Kanahara, Nobuhisa, Shimizu, Eiji, Iyo, Masaomi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activation; Adolescent; Adolescents; Antidepressants; Antidepressive Agents - therapeutic use; Biology and Life Sciences; Bipolar disorder; Children; Depressive Disorder, Treatment-Resistant - blood; Depressive Disorder, Treatment-Resistant - drug therapy; Drug therapy; Evidence-based medicine; Female; Genetics; Health aspects; Humans; Male; Measurement methods; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mental depression; Mood; Oxytocin; Oxytocin - blood; Patients; People and Places; Physiological aspects; Psychological aspects; Retrospective Studies; Risk factors; Serum levels; Social Sciences; Suicides & suicide attempts; Teenagers
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160767

'Treatment-resistant depression' is depression that does not respond to an adequate regimen of evidence-based treatment. Treatment-resistant depression frequently becomes chronic. Children with treatment-resistant depression might also develop bipolar disorder (BD). The objective of this study was to determine whether serum levels of oxytocin (OXT) in treatment-resistant depression in adolescents (TRDIA) differ from non-treatment-resistant depression in adolescents (non-TRDIA) or controls. We also investigated the relationships between serum OXT levels and the clinical symptoms, severity, and familial histories of adolescent depressive patients. We measured serum OXT levels: TRDIA (n = 10), non-TRDIA (n = 27), and age- and sex- matched, neurotypical controls (n = 25). Patients were evaluated using the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R) and the Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children-Japanese Version (DSRS-C-J). The patients were also assessed retrospectively using the following variables: familial history of major depressive disorder and BD (1st degree or 2nd degree), history of disruptive mood dysregulation disorder, recurrent depressive disorder (RDD), history of antidepressant activation. Serum levels of OXT among the TRDIA and non-TRDIA patients and controls differed significantly. Interestingly, the rates of a family history of BD (1st or 2nd degree), RDD and a history of antidepressant activation in our TRDIA group were significantly higher than those of the non-TRDIA group. Serum levels of OXT may play a role in the pathophysiology of TRDIA.