A randomized trial assigned 80 people with moderate-to-severe depressive disorder to active or sham high-frequency deep repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Each group included 40 participants and received 20 sessions over four weeks.
What changed The active group had a significantly greater reduction in HAMD-17 depression scores than the sham group. Higher baseline fasting triglyceride levels were associated with greater improvement, and that relationship was stronger in the active-treatment group.
Why it matters The trial adds controlled evidence for symptom improvement and explores a readily measured biological variable that might eventually contribute to treatment personalization.
What the evidence supports The triglyceride result is exploratory, not a validated selection rule. The reviewed abstract does not report effect sizes, response or remission rates, follow-up after treatment, or adverse-event counts. It describes treatment as generally well tolerated but does not provide enough safety detail for independent assessment. Coil design, commercial equipment, funding and conflicts were not verified.
Published September 10, 2026. Prepared with AI assistance and checked against the authoritative indexed abstract on September 11, 2026.