Effects of Jieyu Pill Combined with Mirtazapine on Neuroendocrine Function in Patients with Postpartum Depression

OBJECTIVE To observe the clinical effect of Jieyu pill combined with mirtazapine in the treatment of patients with postpartum depression， and its impact on patients' neuroendocrine function. METHODS 78 patients with postpartum depression admitted in our hospital were randomly divided into the control group and the treatment group with random control method. The control group was treated with mirtazapine， and the treatment group was treated with mirtazapine combined with Jieyu pill， both groups were treated for eight weeks. Edinburgh postpartum depression scale (EPDS)， Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS) and the overall effects of two groups were observed and compared at pre-treatment， and 2， 4， 8 weeks after treatment. Levels of monoamine neurotransmitter 5-hydroxytryptamine(5-HT)， norepinephrine (NE)， estradiol (E₂) and progesterone (P) in patients' serum were measured at pre-treatment and 8 weeks after treatment. RESULTS The effective percentages of the control group and the treatment group were 79.48% and 92.31%， respectively (P<0.01). EPDS scores in two groups of 2， 4， 8 weeks after treatment were significantly decreased compared those of the pre-treatment. From the end of the 2nd week treatment， EPDS score in the treatment group was significantly decreased than that in the control group (P<0.01). Levels of 5-HT， NE and E₂ in patients' serum of two groups were increased significantly after treatment than those of the pre-treatment， and P level was decreased significantly than that of the pre-treatment (P<0.01). There were total 9 cases (23.01%) occurred adverse reactions in the control group， and the TESS value was （6.41±0.57）. There were total 4 cases (10.25%) occurred adverse reactions in the treatment group， and the TESS value was （3.10±0.29）. The TESS values in both groups were statistically significant (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Jieyu pill combined with mirtazapine has the satisfactory clinical effect for the treatment of postpartum depression with few adverse reactions. And it can effectively regulate the 5-HT， NE， E₂ and P levels of depression patients， and proceed to improve the clinical symptoms of patients.