http://goo.gl/Hl9kv6
The animals were then randomly assigned to receive a commonly prescribed antidepressant, a selective serotoninreuptake inhibitor (SSRI) marketed under the brand name Zoloft, or a placebo once a day for 18 months. The antidepressant was given in a dose comparable to that given to patients.
The monkeys that received the SSRI developed three times the amount of atherosclerosis in their coronary arteries as monkeys given the placebo. In the depressed animals, the amount was even higher - almost six times greater in the SSRI-treated animals than in those given the placebo.
"Our findings suggest that long-term treatment with this drug promotes coronary artery atherosclerosis in non-human primates," Shively said. "This may be clinically significant for people because almost a quarter of middle-aged women in the United States take antidepressants, the most prescribed of which are SSRIs."