Eficacia de Palmitoiletanolamida en el tratamiento de la depresión: revisión de alcance

Abstract

Introduction: Depression is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders in the world. It is estimated that one third of people with depression receive treatment and of these, less than one third show improvement with therapy. With the advancement of science and the increasing understanding of the endocannabinoid system, the use of compounds such as Palmitoylethanolamide can be an interesting and novel alternative. Objective: To determine the efficacy of PEA (palmitoylethanolamide) in the treatment of depression. Materials and methods: A narrative review of the literature in major electronic databases was conducted to assess the efficacy of palmitoylethanolamide in the treatment of depression. Two reviewers independently selected studies from titles and abstracts, without language restriction, all studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included. The quality of the report of the included studies was evaluated with the CONSORT tool and methodologic quality with the Jadad scale. Results: 40 articles were found in the different databases, 1 was selected by consensus that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The study reported significant differences between the response rates of the patients who received PEA, which was 100% vs. 74% among those who did not receive it. Likewise, a shorter response time was evidenced among those who received PEA as adjuvant 4.96 with 95% CI (4.58-5.35) vs 5.26 95% CI (4.88-5.63) weeks among those who did not receive it. Conclusions: Evidence about the clinical efficacy of PEA is limited to one study. Although it suggests efficacy, more controlled clinical trials are required.