A recent study compared the effects of different antidepressant therapies on depression in patients with Parkinsons disease (PD) and provided a reference for clinical treatment.

It selected 328 patients with idiopathic PD who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disease, Fourth Edition, criteria for a depressive disorder or operationally defined subsyndromal depression and scored >17 on the 17-item Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD-17). The experimental group included 131 patients with PD accompanied by depression. The subjects were randomized into 4 groups, and 118 were eventually completed: routine treatment group (n = 29), routine treatment + escitalopram group (n = 29), routine treatment + pramipexole group (n = 31), and routine treatment + transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) group (n = 29). After four weeks of treatments, the investigators evaluated the efficacy of each treatment using the HAMD score and reduction rate.

The study found the therapeutic efficiency of Escitalopram, pramipexole, and repetitive TMS superior to routine anti-PD treatment. It found no statistical difference between Escitalopram and pramipexole, but all of them were superior to rTMS. Further logistic regression analysis revealed that a 50% reduction in HAMD score from baseline was associated with the treatment method. Among all, Escitalopram showed statistical significance.

Thus, Escitalopram, pramipexole, and high-frequency TMS show better efficacy in patients with Parkinsons disease complicated with depression. At four weeks, Escitalopram shows better antidepressant effects and improves patients quality of life without worsening motor function.

Clin Neuropharmacol. 2022 Jul-Aug 01;45(4):84-88. DOI: 10.1097/WNF.0000000000000507. Epub 2022 Feb 1. PMID: 35652703; PMCID: PMC9301980.