Copyright
©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Jan 19, 2026; 16(1): 112139
Published online Jan 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i1.112139
Published online Jan 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i1.112139
Clinical efficacy and effects on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function of proscar combined with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor in post-stroke depression
Ming-Yang Xu, Jun Yao, Chun-Qin Ding, Ru-Juan Zhou, Department of Neurology, Yangzhou University Affiliated Taixing Hospital, Taixing 225400, Jiangsu Province, China
Yi Lu, Department of Catheter Room of Interventional, Yangzhou University Affiliated Taixing Hospital, Taixing 225400, Jiangsu Province, China
Guo-Mei Shi, Department of Psychology, Yangzhou University Affiliated Taixing Hospital, Taixing 225400, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Chun-Qin Ding and Ru-Juan Zhou.
Author contributions: Xu MY designed the research study and wrote the manuscript; Xu MY, Lu Y, Shi GM, and Yao J performed the research; Lu Y contributed new reagents and analytical tools; Shi GM and Yao J analyzed the data; Ding CQ and Zhou RJ served as co-corresponding authors, overseeing the study design, supervising research execution, and revising the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version.
Supported by Open Project of Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine for the Prevention and Treatment of Geriatric Diseases, No. 202232.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Taixing People’s Hospital (approval No. K-W2023001).
Informed consent statement: All study participants and their legal guardians provided written informed consent prior to study enrolment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Chun-Qin Ding, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Neurology, Yangzhou University Affiliated Taixing Hospital, No. 1 Changzheng Road, Taixing 225400, Jiangsu Province, China. myxu1986@foxmail.com
Received: August 15, 2025
Revised: September 15, 2025
Accepted: October 28, 2025
Published online: January 19, 2026
Processing time: 137 Days and 17.4 Hours
Revised: September 15, 2025
Accepted: October 28, 2025
Published online: January 19, 2026
Processing time: 137 Days and 17.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Combining selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors with the traditional Chinese medicine Free San significantly improves the treatment efficacy for post-stroke depression. The novel combination therapy not only alleviated depressive symptoms more effectively than selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors alone but also normalized hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction, as evidenced by reduced cortisol and corticotropin-releasing hormone levels. This approach has a good safety profile, suggesting that it is a promising integrative treatment strategy for post-stroke depression.