RESUMEN
Objective:To investigate the clinical effect of Chaihu Shugansan combined with abdominal acupuncture on depression caused by chronic pain，and to explore its mechanism. Method:A total of 97 patients with depression caused by chronic pain were randomly divided into control group （49 cases） and observation group （48 cases）. Patients in both groups received routine western medicine treatment，including necessary psychological intervention and taking paroxetine. Control groupobservation groupcontrol group Patients in control group were treated with Xiaoyaowan，and patients in observation group were treated with Chaihu Shugansan combined with abdominal acupuncture. Both groups were treated for 6 weeks. The levels of serum neurotransmitters，cytokines and Hamilton depression rating scale（HAMD） before and after treatment were compared between two groups<bold>.</bold> Result:There was no significant difference in HAMD scores of the two groups before treatment and the HAMD scores of two groups after treatment were significantly lower than those before treatment （<italic>P</italic><0.05），and the HAMD scores in observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group （<italic>P</italic><0.05）. There was no significant difference in the levels of serum 5-hydroxytryptamine （5-HT），norepinephrine （NE），and brain-derived neurotrophic factor （BDNF） between two groups before treatment. After treatment，the levels of serum 5-HT，NE，and BDNF in two groups were significantly higher than those before treatment （<italic>P</italic><0.05），and the levels in observation group were significantly higher than those in control group （<italic>P</italic><0.05）. There was no significant difference in the levels of serum interleukin-6 （IL-6），interleukin-1<italic>β</italic> （IL-1<italic>β</italic>） and tumor necrosis factor-<italic>α</italic> （TNF-<italic>α</italic>） before treatment. After treatment，the levels of serum IL-6，IL-1<italic>β</italic> and TNF-<italic>α</italic> were significantly lower than those before treatment （<italic>P</italic><0.05），and the levels in observation group were significantly lower than those in control group （<italic>P</italic><0.05）. Conclusion:On the basis of psychological intervention and paroxetine administration，the combination of Chaihu Shugansan and abdominal acupuncture exerts their respective advantages. It treats both symptoms and root causes of depression，relieves the degree of depression，reduces the classification of depression，and regulates the levels of neurotransmitter and cellular inflammatory factors，and inhibits inflammatory response. The clinical effect is significant.