[Specifics of a dual action: toward new and more effective antidepressants?]

Encephale. 1999 Jun:25 Spec No 2:5-20; discussion 23-5.
[Article in French]

Abstract

Depression raises numerous questions that are pathophysiological, diagnostic and epidemiological as well as therapeutic. Amongst those questions, antidepressant drugs and their action mechanism(s) remain the subject of many studies in all fields, with a view to enhanced management of patients suffering from mood disorders. Numerous hypotheses both neurobiological and pharmacological have been advanced with respect to the neurochemical mechanisms involved in depressive disease and the neurobiological impact of antidepressants. In addition to the aminergic hypotheses which are currently the best supported, numerous arguments tend to show the value of taking into account the overall function of the brain and no longer only considering a single neuronal system. In this context, the value of a dual specific action on the main two central aminergic systems, the noradrenergic and serotoninergic systems, has now emerged.

Publication types

  • English Abstract
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Acetylcholine / metabolism
  • Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors / therapeutic use*
  • Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / pharmacology*
  • Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / therapeutic use*
  • Brain / drug effects
  • Cyclohexanols / pharmacology*
  • Cyclohexanols / therapeutic use*
  • Depressive Disorder / drug therapy*
  • Dopamine / metabolism
  • Endocrine System / drug effects
  • Enzymes / metabolism
  • Homeostasis / drug effects
  • Homovanillic Acid / metabolism
  • Monoamine Oxidase / metabolism
  • Norepinephrine / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Serotonin / metabolism
  • Venlafaxine Hydrochloride

Substances

  • Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors
  • Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation
  • Cyclohexanols
  • Enzymes
  • Serotonin
  • Venlafaxine Hydrochloride
  • Monoamine Oxidase
  • Acetylcholine
  • Dopamine
  • Norepinephrine
  • Homovanillic Acid