SYMPOSIA

Poster Presentations
study. The inclusion criteria were: 1. First episode of major depression, 2. Female gender, 3. Antidepressant-naïve, 4. Age between 18 and
50 years, and 5. Hamilton depression rating scale (17 items) score ranging from 18 to 36. The patients with history of other psychiatric
disorders, significant suicidal ideation, liver and kidney dysfunction, and cardiovascular disorders were excluded. The patients were
randomly assigned into two equal groups receiving either sertraline 50-100 mg/day plus celecoxib 100 mg twice daily or sertraline 50-100
mg/day plus placebo twice daily. The participants were assessed by Hamilton depression and anxiety rating scale at baseline, and 4th and
8th weeks of the treatment. The data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher’s exact test. The trial was registered in Iranian
Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT registration number: IRCT201009043106N3). This study was approved by Azad University Pharmaceutical
Sciences Ethics Committee (No: 4114).
Results: No significant differences were observed between two groups regarding demographicals characteristics and the Hamilton
depression score at baseline. The mean Hamilton depression score decreased from 26.14 (SD=5.51) at baseline to 12.42 (SD=5) at 4th
week and from 26.22 (SD=5.38) at baseline to 17.33 (SD=5.24) at 4th week in the celecoxib and placebo groups, respectively. Celecoxib
group showed significantly greater decrease in Hamilton scores compared to placebo (P< 0.05) at the end of week 4. The mean decrease
in Hamilton score was greater in the treatment group compared to placebo over 8 weeks, although it was not statistically significant. In
addition, remission rate (HamD scores