Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment Dovepress open access to scientific and medical research ORIGINAL RESEARCH Rosa damascena oil improves SSRl-induced sexual dysfunction in male patients suffering from major depressive disorders:results from a double-blind, randomized,and placebo-controlled clinical trial This article was published in the following Dove Press journal Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 9 March 2015 Number of times this article has been viewed Vahid Farnia' Background:A substantial disadvantage of psychopharmacological treatment of major Mehdi Shirzadifar2 depressive disorder(MDD)with selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors(SSRIs)is the impact Jalal Shakeri' on sexual dysfunction.The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the oil of Rosa Mansour Rezaei3 damascena can have a positive influence on SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction(SSRI-I SD)of Hafez Bajoghli45 male patients who are suffering from MDD and are being treated with SSRIs Edith Holsboer-Trachslers Method:In a double-blind.randomized,and placebo-controlled clinical trial.a total of 60 male Serge Brand6.7 patients treated with an SSRI and suffering from MDD(mean age =32 years)and SSRI-I SD were randomly assigned to take either verum(R.damascena oil)or a placebo.Patients completed ISubstance Abuse Prevention self-ratings of depression and sexual function at baseline.at 4 weeks later,and at the end of the Research Center,Psychiatry Department,Kermanshah University study.8 weeks after it started. of Medical Sciences,Kermanshah,Iran; Results:Over time,sexual dysfunction improved more in the verum group than in the control Student Research Center,Psychiatry Department,Kermanshah University group.Improvements were observed in the verum group from week 4 to week 8.Self-rated of Medical Sciences,Kermanshah symptoms of depression reduced over time in both groups,but did so more so in the verum Iran;Department of Statistics and group than in the control group. Epidemiology,Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences,Kermanshah. Conclusion:This double-blind,randomized,and placebo-controlled clinical trial showed that Iran:ranian National Center for the administration of R.damascena oil ameliorates sexual dysfunction in male patients suffer- Addiction Studies,Iranian Institute ing from both MDD and SSRI-I SD.Further,the symptoms of depression reduced as sexual for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors Tehran University of Medical Sciences, dysfunction improved. Tehran.Iran;SASEAN Institute Keywords:major depressive disorder,Rosa damascena oil,sexual dysfunction,selective for Health Development,Mahidol University,Nakhon Pathom,Thailand; serotonin-reuptake inhibitors,SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction Psychiatric Clinics of the Center for Affective,Stress and Sleep Disorders, Psychiatric Hospital of the University Introduction of Basel,Basel,Switzerland;7Sport Among psychiatric disorders,major depressive disorders(MDDs)merit particular Science Section,Department of Sport, Exercise and Health,University of attention because they are among the most prevalent lifetime psychiatric disorders.Not Basel,Basel.Switzerland surprisingly,Murray and Lopez,on the basis of data obtained by using the Disability- Adjusted-Life-Years instrument to assess"the sum [of the]years lost due to premature mortality and years lived with disability adjusted for severity",?estimated that MDD will be the third leading cause ofburden worldwide by 2020,with chronic lifelong risk Correspondence:Serge Brand for recurrent relapse,high morbidity,comorbidity,and mortality.The core symptom Center for Affective,Stress and Sleep of MDD is the loss of interests and pleasure in activities that were otherwise interest- Disorders,Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel,Wilhelm Klein-Strasse ing and pleasant to the patient.This holds particularly true for sexual function.Not 27,4012 Basel,Switzerland surprisingly,patients suffering from MDD report higher rates of sexual dysfunction Te+41613255l14 Fax+41613255513 than do members of a healthy population.Accordingly,sexual dysfunction is very Email serge.brand@upkbs.ch often observed among patients suffering from MDD. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 2015:1I625-635 625 Dovepress httpolldx.doi.org/10.2147/NOT578694© 2015 Farnia et al. This work is published by Dove Medical Press Limited, and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. The full terms of the License are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. Permissions beyond the scope of the License are administered by Dove Medical Press Limited. Information on how to request permission may be found at: http://www.dovepress.com/permissions.php Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment 2015:11 625–635 Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment Dovepress submit your manuscript | www.dovepress.com Dovepress 625 Origi n al R esearch open access to scientific and medical research Open Access Full Text Article http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S78696 Rosa damascena oil improves SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction in male patients suffering from major depressive disorders: results from a double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled clinical trial Vahid Farnia1 Mehdi Shirzadifar2 Jalal Shakeri1 Mansour Rezaei3 Hafez Bajoghli4,5 Edith Holsboer-Trachsler6 Serge Brand6,7 1 Substance Abuse Prevention Research Center, Psychiatry Department, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran; 2 Student Research Center, Psychiatry Department, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran; 3 Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran; 4Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 5 ASEAN Institute for Health Development, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand; 6 Psychiatric Clinics of the Center for Affective, Stress and Sleep Disorders, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; 7Sport Science Section, Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland Background: A substantial disadvantage of psychopharmacological treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) with selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) is the impact on sexual dysfunction. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the oil of Rosa damascena can have a positive influence on SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction (SSRI-I SD) of male patients who are suffering from MDD and are being treated with SSRIs. Method: In a double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled clinical trial, a total of 60 male patients treated with an SSRI and suffering from MDD (mean age =32 years) and SSRI-I SD were randomly assigned to take either verum (R. damascena oil) or a placebo. Patients completed self-ratings of depression and sexual function at baseline, at 4 weeks later, and at the end of the study, 8 weeks after it started. Results: Over time, sexual dysfunction improved more in the verum group than in the control group. Improvements were observed in the verum group from week 4 to week 8. Self-rated symptoms of depression reduced over time in both groups, but did so more so in the verum group than in the control group. Conclusion: This double-blind, randomized, and placebo-controlled clinical trial showed that the administration of R. damascena oil ameliorates sexual dysfunction in male patients suffer￾ing from both MDD and SSRI-I SD. Further, the symptoms of depression reduced as sexual dysfunction improved. Keywords: major depressive disorder, Rosa damascena oil, sexual dysfunction, selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors, SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction Introduction Among psychiatric disorders, major depressive disorders (MDDs) merit particular attention because they are among the most prevalent lifetime psychiatric disorders.1 Not surprisingly, Murray and Lopez, on the basis of data obtained by using the Disability￾Adjusted-Life-Years instrument to assess “the sum [of the] years lost due to premature mortality and years lived with disability adjusted for severity”,2 estimated that MDD will be the third leading cause of burden worldwide by 2020, with chronic lifelong risk for recurrent relapse, high morbidity, comorbidity, and mortality.1 The core symptom of MDD is the loss of interests and pleasure in activities that were otherwise interest￾ing and pleasant to the patient. This holds particularly true for sexual function. Not surprisingly, patients suffering from MDD report higher rates of sexual dysfunction than do members of a healthy population.3–7 Accordingly, sexual dysfunction is very often observed among patients suffering from MDD. Correspondence: Serge Brand Center for Affective, Stress and Sleep Disorders, Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel, Wilhelm Klein-Strasse 27, 4012 Basel, Switzerland Tel +41 61 325 51 14 Fax +41 61 325 55 13 Email serge.brand@upkbs.ch Journal name: Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment Article Designation: Original Research Year: 2015 Volume: 11 Running head verso: Farnia et al Running head recto: Rosa damascena oil for male SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S78696