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A role for the serotonin system in the mechanism of action of antidepressant treatments: preclinical evidence.
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1990
Year
Psychotropic MedicationNeurotransmitterPsychopharmacologySerotonin Reuptake BlockersAntidepressant TreatmentsSocial SciencesPsychiatryDepressionPreclinical EvidenceNeuropharmacologyPsychiatric DisorderNervous SystemDopaminePharmacologyInhibitory NeurotransmittersTherapeutic EffectNeurophysiologySerotonin SystemMajor DepressionNeuroscienceBiological PsychiatryCentral Nervous SystemMedicinePsychopathology
The electrophysiologic assessment of the action of different types of antidepressant treatments on the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) system revealed as a common effect an enhancement of 5-HT neurotransmission, albeit each treatment achieved this result via a different mechanism. Tricyclic antidepressant drugs and electroconvulsive shock treatment sensitize postsynaptic neurons to 5-HT. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors enhance the availability of releasable 5-HT. Serotonin reuptake blockers increase the efficacy of 5-HT neurons by desensitizing 5-HT autoreceptors located on 5-HT nerve terminals. Serotonin1A receptor agonists would enhance the tonic activation of postsynaptic 5-HT1A receptors. Such results suggest that this effect of antidepressant treatments on the 5-HT system might be intimately related to their therapeutic effect in major depression.