Results of therapy of vascular depression in late-life and the dynamics of brain-derived neurotrophic factor

Introduction: recently, depression is considered as a disease with a known organic basis and changes in the concentration of neurotrophin BDNF, which in particular applies to patients with advanced age with cerebral-vascular pathology. In modern literature, the notion of vascular depression stands out, but data on the possibilities of its therapy and associated biochemical changes remain very scarce. Objective: оbtaining data on the depth of reduction of the manifestations of vascular depression during treatment, the dynamics of BDNF concentration, and the possible dependence of the latter on inflammatory processes. Material and methods: 23 patients with an average age of 71,4 ± 2,5 years who met the criteria of vascular depression were studied. The Cornell Depression scale, the CGI scale were used, the concentration of BDNF and C-reactive protein (CRP) was determined. Results: by the time the CGI therapy began, moderate mental disorders according to CGI had been established in all patients, and in the dynamics of its implementation, there were 2 variants of changes-signifcant (65,2%) and a slight improvement. The severity of vascular depression in elderly patients, as a rule, is at a moderate level. The majority of patients achieve signifcant therapeutic changes, especially in terms of correcting feelings of sadness, reducing the phenomena of inhibition and smoothing the daily fluctuations of affect. According to the Cornell scale, it was found out that the possibilities of deeper reduction affect the feeling of sadness, the degree of activity, the phenomena of inhibition and the daily fluctuations of affect. An increase in the concentration of the brain neurotrophic factor was revealed in both main variants of the therapeutic effect. Its dependence on the depth of reduction of psychopathological symptoms is not established. Similar ratios are revealed in terms of CRP. Conclusions: improvement of the state in the treatment of vascular depression is accompanied by an increase in the concentration of BDNF, but, apparently, this component is only one of the links of complex compensatory neurochemical changes.

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