Abstract
The effects of antidepressant drugs on central 5-HT receptor activity were studied in rats and mice. Antidepressant drugs were evaluated for their ability to displace3H-5-HT and3H-d-LSD from membrane binding sites in the dorsal neocortex of rats in vitro and for their ability to block 5-HTP and d-LSD induced behavioral effects in mice. The degree of blockade of head-twitches in mice produced by the antidepressants was highly correlated with their affinity for3H-d-LSD binding sites. A number of antidepressant drugs such as amitriptyline, nortriptyline, mianserine, doxepine, nomifensine and dibenzepine appear to possess marked 5-HT receptor blocking activity at some types of 5-HT receptors in brain. New antidepressant drugs such as zimelidine, which specifically inhibit 5-HT reuptake and do not block 5-HT receptor sites, may after chronic treatment also reduce the functional activity of 5-HT systems by producing adaptive changes in postsynaptic 5-HT mechanisms. Thus, a new indoleamine hypothesis of depression is presented: the therapeutic action of antidepressant drugs may in part be due to a reduced functional activity of some central 5-HT systems.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 85-103 |
Number of pages | 19 |
Journal | Journal of Neural Transmission |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1979 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neurology
- Clinical Neurology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Biological Psychiatry