J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc.  2006 Nov;45(6):527-533.

Changes of HRV after Antidepressant Treatment in Psychiatric Outpatients

• Lee SK
• Lee HS
• Kim IJ
• Kim HT
• Kim DH
• Son BK

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this study was to investigate the change of heart rate variability after antidepressant treatment in depressed or anxious patients. We tried to find the usefulness of heart rate variability as a predictive marker of response to pharmacological treatments in the psychiatric field.
METHODS
Forty-seven patients with major depression, anxiety disorder, and somatoform disorder were treated over 4 weeks with antidepressants and were then classified as responders or nonresponders according to Hamilton depression scales or CGI scores. The HRV variables were measured and compared among the responders/nonresponders and the matched normal control.
RESULTS
The responders group exhibited low heart rate, low PSI, high SDNN, RMSSD, HRV index, NN50, pNN50, LNTP, LNLF, and LNHF compared with the nonresponders after 4 weeks antidepressant treatment. However, no significant difference in HRV variables was observed between the responders group after treatment and the normal control group and the response group after treatment.
CONCLUSION
These results indicate that HRV variables would are normalized after successful antidepressant treatment and it that HRV has some possible uses as a predicting marker of antidepressant response.

Keyword

Heart rate variability; Depression; Anxiety; Antidepressant

MeSH Terms

Antidepressive Agents
Anxiety
Anxiety Disorders
Depression
Heart Rate
Humans
Outpatients*
Somatoform Disorders
Weights and Measures
Antidepressive Agents