A Potential New Class of Fast Acting Antidepressants

This article introduces the problem with antidepressants on the market today: they are too slow. For some patients, current antidepressants take months to alleviate their symptoms. The only two drugs that do display rapid onset (ketamine and scopolamine) are still unsuitable for human use. According to the article, Dr. Stephanie Dulawa and her team at the University of Chicago found the subtype serotonin receptor, serotonin 2C, that stood out among other serotonin receptors as significantly reducing “depression-like” behaviors. These serotonin 2C receptors normally inhibit the release of dopamine, and when blocked, dopamine is free to be released into brain. The articles notes a brain area called the prefrontal cortex. These receptors were selectively blocked in mice, and their symptoms were reduced in only five days as compared to a two week minimum control group. Her team only started taking measurements after five days, but they believe that the effects could have been sooner. Selectively targeting these receptors suggests a potentially safer alternative to current antidepressants.

Again, this article is relevant to my device design project to treat depression that I am currently working on. The real important implication of this discovery is the identification of a more acute target to focus treatment on. Interestingly enough, this approach is focused on the receptor that stops the release dopamine and blocking the inhibition, instead of anti-depressants that usually block the reuptake of serotonin. I like that this process also alleviates symptoms, something I did not know before reading the article. While the medication for this is still undergoing development, I am curious to what technique they utilized to initially block only these receptors in mice. Perhaps, this method can be developed into a nanobot!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131029090347.htm