Effect of Korean Red Ginseng as an adjuvant treatment for women with residual symptoms of major depression

Introduction Around 20% of patients with major depression experience residual symptoms. Ginseng has shown potential antidepressant effects in some animal studies and in patients with stress‐related somatic symptoms. Therefore, we investigated the effectiveness and tolerability of Korean Red Ginseng adjuvant treatment in patients with residual symptoms of major depression. Methods In this eight‐week prospective study, 35 female outpatients aging from 18 to 65 years (45.1 ± 9.5), who were remitted from major depression with residual symptoms, were given Korean Red Ginseng at doses of 3 g/day. The Depression Residual Symptom Scale (DRSS) and Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) were administrated to evaluate depressive symptoms. The general severity of symptoms was assessed by a clinician using the Clinical Global Impressions Scale for Severity (CGI‐S). The Depression and Somatic Symptom Scale (DSSS) was also used to evaluate somatic symptoms in the subjects. This trial is registered at Clinical.gov, number NCT01496248. Results Subjects reported significant decrease in depressive symptoms on the DRSS (P