Brain function changes reveal rapid antidepressant effects of nitrous oxide for treatment-resistant depression:Evidence from task-state EEG.

Peer-reviewed Human StudyRCTPubMedJournal ArticleMarch 14, 2023PMID: 36791487 DOI

Abstract

Nitrous oxide has rapid antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but its underlying mechanisms of therapeutic actions are not well understood. Moreover, most of the current studies lack objective biological indicators to evaluate the changes of nitrous oxide-induced brain function for TRD. Therefore, this study assessed the effect of nitrous oxide on brain function for TRD based on event-related potential (ERP) components and functional connectivity networks (FCNs) methods. In this randomized, longitudinal, placebo-controlled trial, all TRD participants were divided into two groups to receive either a 1-hour inhalation of nitrous oxide or a placebo treatment, and they took part in the same task-state electroencephalogram (EEG) experiment before and after treatment. The experimental results showed that nitrous oxide improved depressive symptoms better than placebo in terms of 17-Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score (HAMD-17). Statistical analysis based on ERP components showed that nitrous oxide-induced significant differences in amplitude and latency of N1, P1, N2, P2. In addition, increased brain functional connectivity was found after nitrous oxide treatment. And the change of network metrics has a significant correlation with decreased depressive symptoms. These findings may suggest that nitrous oxide improves depression symptoms for TRD by modifying brain function.

Authors (11)

LeadGansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Wearable Computing, School of Information Science and Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.

Danfeng YanDepartment of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China; China National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders (Xiangya), Mental Health Institute of Central South University, China National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, Hunan Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Hunan Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China; Shanxi Mental Health Center, Taiyuan Fifth People's Hospital, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030045, China.

Mei LiaoDepartment of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China; China National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders (Xiangya), Mental Health Institute of Central South University, China National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, Hunan Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Hunan Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.

Wenwen OuDepartment of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China; China National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders (Xiangya), Mental Health Institute of Central South University, China National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, Hunan Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Hunan Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.

Yan ZhangDepartment of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China; China National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders (Xiangya), Mental Health Institute of Central South University, China National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, Hunan Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Hunan Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.

Lingjiang LiDepartment of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China; China National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders (Xiangya), Mental Health Institute of Central South University, China National Technology Institute on Mental Disorders, Hunan Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Hunan Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Changsha, Hunan 410011, China.

Bin HuGansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Wearable Computing, School of Information Science and Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; Joint Research Center for Cognitive Neurosensor Technology of Lanzhou University & Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China; Engineering Research Center of Open Source Software and Real-Time System (Lanzhou University), Ministry of Education, Lanzhou, China; Brain Health Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Engineering Medicine, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China. Electronic address: bh@lzu.edu.cn.

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Brain function changes reveal rapid antidepressant effects of nitrous oxide for treatment-resistant depression:Evidence from task-state EEG.

Abstract

Authors (11)

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