ArticleMetabolic brain disease2019
Total and ionized calcium and magnesium are significantly lowered in drug-naïve depressed patients: effects of antidepressants and associations with immune activation.
Article in Metabolic brain disease, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Changes of Blood and CSF Ion Levels in Depressed Patients: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Molecular neurobiology · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- In transfusion-dependent thalassemia, neuronal damage biomarkers are associated with affective and chronic fatigue symptoms.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Role of Magnesium in Depression, Migraine, Alzheimer's Disease, and Cognitive Health: A Comprehensive Review.Nutrients · 2025Review
- The immune checkpoint pathophysiology of depression and chronic fatigue syndrome due to preeclampsia: focus on sCD80 and sCTLA-4.Acta neuropsychiatrica · 2025Article
- Effects of patent foramen ovale in migraine: a metabolomics-based study.The Journal of physiology · 2025Article
- Correlation analysis between clinical effective emotional treatment and plasma N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor function-related indexes.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2025Article
- Magnesium (MgCurrent pharmaceutical design · 2024Review
- How does IL-6 change after combined treatment in MDD patients? A systematic review.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2023Review
- Chronic Fatigue, Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Long COVID Are Strongly Predicted by Neuroimmune and Neuro-Oxidative Pathways Which Are Caused by the Inflammation during Acute Infection.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Inflammation and Nitro-oxidative Stress as Drivers of Endocannabinoid System Aberrations in Mood Disorders and Schizophrenia.Molecular neurobiology · 2022Review
- Intersections between pneumonia, lowered oxygen saturation percentage and immune activation mediate depression, anxiety, and chronic fatigue syndrome-like symptoms due to COVID-19: A nomothetic network approach.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Article
- Intersections between Copper, β-Arrestin-1, Calcium, FBXW7, CD17, Insulin Resistance and Atherogenicity Mediate Depression and Anxiety Due to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Nomothetic Network Approach.Journal of personalized medicine · 2022Article
- Correlation of Ionized Magnesium with the Parameters of Oxidative Stress as Potential Biomarkers in Patients with Anxiety and Depression: A Pilot Study.Dose-response : a publication of International Hormesis SocietyArticle
- Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with alterations in calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg), as well as circulating pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Anti-inflammatory drugs are commonly used as adjuvant treatments for MDD. However, no studies examined the effects of a combinatorial treatment with sertraline and ketoprofen, an anti-inflammatory drug, on Ca and Mg levels in MDD. The present study examined a) differences in both cations between drug-naïve MDD patients and controls, and b) the effects of sertraline and ketoprofen on Ca and Mg (both total and ionized). In the same patients, we also examined the associations between both cations and IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-18, IFN-γ, TGF-β1, zinc, and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO). Clinical improvement was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) at baseline and after follow up for 2 months. Serum Ca and Mg (total and ionized) were significantly lower in MDD patients as compared with controls, while treatment significantly increased calcium but decreased magnesium levels. There were significant and inverse correlations between the BDI-II scores from baseline to endpoint and Ca (both total and ionized), but not Mg, levels. The effects of calcium on the BDI-II score remained significant after considering the effects of zinc, IDO and an immune activation z unit-weighted composite score based on the sum of all cytokines. There was a significant and inverse association between this immune activation index and calcium levels from baseline to endpoint. In conclusion, lowered levels of both cations play a role in the pathophysiology of major depression. Antidepressant-induced increases in Ca are associated with clinical efficacy and attenuation of the immune response. The suppressant effect of antidepressants on Mg levels is probably a side effect of those drugs. New antidepressant treatments should be developed that increase the levels both Ca and Mg. Graphical abstract.
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