Effects of Vortioxetine on the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and tyrosine kinase B (Trk B) in hippocampus of depressive rats were investigated. Forty-five SD rats were randomly divided into three groups: model control, Vortioxetine and normal control group, with 15 rats in each group. The changes of body mass were recorded within 5 weeks, and the open field test, sugar water preference test and Morris water maze test were performed to evaluate the behavior and mental status of the rats. The expression of BDNF and Trk B in rat hippocampus was detected by enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay. Compared with the model control group, the body mass, horizontal and vertical movement, sugar and water preference rate of the vortioxetine group in the 5th week were significantly higher than those of the model control group (P<0.05), and significantly lower than those of the normal control group (P<0.05). The escape latency of the Vortioxetine group within 4 days was significantly lower than that of model control group (P<0.05), but higher than that of normal control group (P<0.05). The target quadrant residence time of the Vortioxetine group was significantly lower than that of the model control group (P<0.05), but higher than that of the normal control group (P<0.05). Expression of BDNF and Trk B in the Vortioxetine group was significantly higher than that in the model control group (P<0.05), but lower than that of the normal control group (P<0.05). Collectively, Vortioxetine can effectively alleviate the symptoms of autonomous and exploratory behavior, and reduce the decrease of learning and memory in depressive rats. Vortioxetine can increase the expression of BDNF and Trk B in depressive rats and alleviate their depressive behavior.

Objectives: This study was aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of vortioxetine hydrobromide in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). Methods: One hundred and eighty patients with the newly diagnosed depression in our hospital between August 2018 and August 2019 were selected and randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 90 each group. The control group was treated with escitalopram, and the observation group was treated with voltaxetine. The efficacy and adverse reactions were evaluated by the Hamilton Depression scale-17 (HAMD-17), Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), Perceived Deficits Questionnaire-Depression (PDQ-D), and treatment emergent symptom scale (TESS) before treatment and at the end of the 8th and 24th week after treatment. Results: At the end of the 8th and 24th week after treatment, the HAMD-17 scores of the two groups were lower than those before treatment (P<0.05); at the end of the 8th and 24th week after treatment, the PDQ-D and SDS scores of the two groups were lower than those before treatment (P<0.05), and the above scores of the observation group were lower than those of the control group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: Voltaxetine can improve cognitive function and clinical symptoms of patients with severe depression and has high safety, which is worth clinical attention. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.5.5230 How to cite this:Shao S, Sun B, Sun H. Clinical efficacy of Vortioxetine and escitalopram in the treatment of depression. Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(5):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.5.5230 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.