Escitalopram’s Impact on Gut Health and IBD Flares in Comorbid Depressed U.S. Males
Reading Time: < 1 minute Introduction Depression and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), encompassing Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, frequently coexist among American males, with prevalence rates exceeding 20% comorbidity in epidemiological surveys like the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Escitalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), is a first-line pharmacotherapy for major depressive disorder (MDD), yet its influence on the gut microbiome—critical in IBD pathogenesis—remains underexplored in this demographic. Dysbiosis, characterized by reduced microbial diversity and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes imbalance, exacerbates IBD flares, prompting scrutiny of psychotropics' enterohepatic effects. This cohort study, drawn from U.S. Veterans Affairs (VA) and Medicare databases (2015–2022), evaluates escitalopram's impact on gut...





