Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40827135›Full record

ArticleNeuropsychiatric disease and treatment2025

Combination Therapy Against Mood and Anxiety Disorders: Association Between Efficacy and White Blood Cell Count.

Meng-Xuan Qiao, Hua Yu, Zheng Fu, Wei Wei, Xiao-Jing Li, Wei Deng, Wan-Jun Guo, Tao Li

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Light therapy in medicine: where do we stand?Annals of translational medicine · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Meng-Xuan QiaoAffiliated Mental Health Center and Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, People's Republic of China.
Hua YuAffiliated Mental Health Center and Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, People's Republic of China.
Zheng FuAffiliated Mental Health Center and Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, People's Republic of China.
Wei WeiAffiliated Mental Health Center and Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, People's Republic of China.
Xiao-Jing LiAffiliated Mental Health Center and Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, People's Republic of China.
Wei DengAffiliated Mental Health Center and Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, People's Republic of China.
Wan-Jun GuoAffiliated Mental Health Center and Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, People's Republic of China.
Tao LiAffiliated Mental Health Center and Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital and School of Brain Science and Brain Medicine, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, People's Republic of China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Numerous studies suggest that hyperactivation of the immuno-inflammatory system, as reflected in cytokine levels, is associated with more severe symptoms in mood and anxiety disorders and weaker response to treatment. Here we examined whether the efficacy of a combination of bright light therapy, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and medication is associated with another immuno-inflammatory index, white blood cell count, before and/or after treatment, in a retrospective observational study. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 467 inpatients with major depressive, bipolar, or generalized anxiety disorder who were treated with combination therapy for at least one week at Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital between April 2022 and April 2024. Potential associations between remission incidences within four weeks after treatment and white blood cell count both before treatment and post-treatment were explored. We used mixed-effects linear modeling to examine the association between treatment characteristics and changes in white blood cell count and depressive symptoms. Results: Bipolar and major depressive disorders were associated with significantly higher white blood cell counts at baseline than generalized anxiety disorder as well as with significantly lower remission incidences. Bright light therapy's effects depended on baseline inflammation, more sessions led to greater reductions in the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score with low baseline white blood cell count, and greater decreases in white blood cell count with high baseline count. In contrast, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation sessions showed no association with white blood cell count. Conclusion: These results highlight the need to account for an individual's immuno-inflammatory state when personalizing treatment for mental health disorders.

Indexed as

bright light therapydepressive symptomsinflammationwhite blood cell count

Identifiers

PMID40827135
PMCPMC12358119

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.