No evidence for an anti-inflammatory effect of escitalopram intervention in healthy individuals with a family history of depression

Inflammation may contribute to the pathogenesis of depression and antidepressants are hypothesised to have an anti-inflammatory effect.In this randomised double-blinded trial we investigated the cytokine levels in supernatants of stimulated whole blood samples from first degree relatives to patients with depression randomised to a single daily dose of either 10 mg escitalopram or placebo for four weeks.No significant differences were found in any of the cytokine levels between the participants treated with escitalopram (n = 21) or placebo (n = 23).Our data does thus not support the hypothesis of a global anti-inflammatory effect of escitalopram on cytokines in healthy subjects.