When East meets West: Accelerated depression recovery with Shugan Jieyu plus sertraline in alcohol-dependent patients

Abstract

Alcohol dependence with comorbid depression is a challenging issue. It often comes with low treatment adherence, slow responses to antidepressants, and high relapse rates. Recently, there has been growing interest in combining different approaches. traditional Chinese medicine has shown promise as a support alongside standard medication. In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial involving 60 alcohol-dependent patients with comorbid depression, adding Shugan Jieyu capsules to sertraline resulted in earlier and significantly better symptom improvement compared to sertraline alone. The differences became noticeable as early as week two. The overall success rate was 90% in the combination group, while it was 73.3% for sertraline used alone (χ² = 4.812, P = 0.028), with no increase in side effects. These findings illustrate a promising example of “East meets West” synergy in psychopharmacology, where multi-target herbal modulation may accelerate recovery and improve tolerability. While these results merit cautious optimism, larger-scale, methodologically robust trials are needed to validate efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetic interactions before broader clinical adoption.

Keywords: Sertraline; Shugan Jieyu capsule; Hamilton depression rating scale; Depression; Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; Traditional Chinese medicine

Core Tip: Combining Shugan Jieyu, a traditional Chinese herbal capsule, with sertraline significantly sped up and improved depression recovery in alcohol-dependent patients, with no extra side effects. This manuscript highlights the therapeutic potential and important considerations of integrating Eastern and Western methods to improve outcomes in complex dual-diagnosis cases.