Escitalopram or novel herbal treatments differentially alter cytokine and behavioral responses to immune challenge

Ronit Avitsur, Shalva Paley, Motty Franko, Nizan Wolff, Nir Eyal, Ravid Doron

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Studies suggest that inflammation is involved in the pathophysiology of depression. The present study examined the effects of the commonly used antidepressant escitalopram, in comparison with a novel herbal treatment (NHT) consisted of Crataegus pinnatifida, Triticum aestivum, Lilium brownii and Fructus Ziziphus jujuba, on cytokine and behavioral responses to an immune challenge. Escitalopram augmented lipopolysaccharide-induced tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α peripheral secretion and induced a faster kinetics of interleukin-1β secretion, while marginally reducing sickness behavior. NHT, on the other hand, completely abolished lipopolysaccharide-induced interleukin-1β and TNFα peripheral secretion and diminished sickness behavior. These findings may have implications for the treatment of depressive symptoms associated with immune activation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)111-118
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Neuroimmunology
Volume309
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Aug 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (ISF 738/11), by the National Institute for Psychobiology in Israel (NIPI-7-2011-12), and by the Open University of Israel Foundation (101186).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

  • Antidepressant
  • Endotoxin
  • Proinflammatory cytokine
  • SSRI
  • Sickness behavior

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