Javeria Farooq, Ball Chand, Bashir Ahmed Khuhro, Abdul Samad, Farooq Baig, Geeta Kumari.
A Longitudinal Follow-up study of Anti-depressant Drugs Causing Hepatotoxicity in patients with Major Depressive Disorders.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;14(2):458-61.

Aim: To determine and compare hepatotoxic effects caused by escitalopram versus sertraline in patients with major depressive disorder. Study Design: Comparative longitudinal study Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pharmacology, Basic Medical Sciences Institute (BMSI) & Neuropsychiatry Ward of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) Karachi from January 2017 to December 2017. Methods: One hundred and twenty eight patients divided into four groups; group 1 (recent users for a period of >1 month to <=3 months), group 2 (drug users for a period of >6 months to <=9 months), group 3 (drug users for a period of >1 year to <=2 years and group 4 (drug users for a period of >2years to <=5 years.) and each group consists of 32 patients. Out of these 32 patients, 16 patients were escitalopram users (10-20mg) and 16 patients were sertraline users (50mg). Out of these 16 patients, 8 patients were males and 8 patients were females. Results: The mean comparison of LFT parameters between two treatment groups results showed in escitalopram samples, mean +- SD for Bilirubin was 0.91 +- 0.38, SGPT 61.24 +- 12.0, alkaline phosphatase 213.63 +- 53.03, whereas in treatment group sertraline, mean +- SD of bilirubin was 0.69 +- 0.16, SGPT 36.88 +- 9.34, alkaline phosphatase 221.69 +- 108.9, there was significant mean difference observed for bilirubin and SGPT between two treatment groups with p-value less than 0.01. Conclusion: Both escitalopram and sertraline can cause hepatotoxicity.

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