A COMPARISON OF PLASMA NITRITE, NTTRATE AND ASYMMETRIC DIMETHYL ARGININE LEVELS MAJOR DEPRESSION PATIENTS BEFORE AND AFTER ESCITALOPRAM TREATMENT

Objective: Asymmetric dimethyl arginine (ADMA) f unction, which is an intracellular repressor of nitric oxide (NO) and NO, examined and revealed in many mental disorders. In this study, we compared the simultaneous levels of plasma nitrite (NO), nitrate (NO3) and ADMA before and after escitalopram treatment at Major Depression Disorder (MDD) patients and healthy controls. Material and Method: 40 patients with MDD according to DSM-IV-IR and 40 heathy controls was included in this study. The Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale was used to determine the severity of illness. Plasma NO2, NO3 and ADMA levels were measured in the MDD and the control groups. Results: Pretreatment plasma NO2, NO3 and ADMA levels in MDD group were significantly lower (but ADMA levels were higher) than in the control group. After the treatment NO levels of MDD group were close to control group. ADMA levels were statistically lower than the control group. Conclusion: Our study can contribute to the understanding of the role of NO and ADMA and relationship between complicated neurotransmitter systems at MDD etiopathogenesis.