title: Childhood Abuse History in Depression Predicts Better Response to Antidepressants with Higher Serotonin Transporter Affinity: A Pilot Investigation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Childhood abuse is a powerful prognostic indicator in adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) and is associated with numerous biological risk factors for depression. The purpose of this investigation was to explore if antidepressant medication affinity for the serotonin transporter moderates the association between childhood abuse and treatment response.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our sample included 52 outpatients with MDD who had received up to 26 weeks of pharmacotherapy, stratifying antidepressant medications with a high versus a low affinity for the serotonin transporter. Patients completed the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Beck Depression Inventory II, Home Environment Questionnaire, and Ontario Health Supplement: Child Abuse and Trauma Scale to assess depression and childhood abuse.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Medication class moderated the link between 3 indices of childhood abuse and treatment response such that higher levels of childhood abuse were associated with higher levels of depression severity after treatment only in those patients receiving antidepressant medications with a weak affinity for the serotonin transporter.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This pilot study suggested that prolonged exposure to stress during childhood may result in biological vulnerabilities for depression, which may in turn be differentially targeted by pharmacological agents which target serotonin to a greater or lesser degree.
authors.affiliation: Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Lena C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Quilty
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Marshe
authors.forename: Daniela S S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Lobo
authors.forename: Kate L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Harkness
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: R Michael
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bagby
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054523:Adult Survivors of Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050484:Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000187:drug effects; D010865:Pilot Projects; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000187:drug effects*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D050484:Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins