About the centrality of mood lowering in mood disorders. Plenary Lecture ECNP Congress, Monte Carlo, October 1991.
5-HT disturbances in depression (as exemplified by lowered CSF 5-HIAA) are not syndrome specific but related to components of the depressive syndrome, specifically to increased anxiety and aggression. These 5-HT disturbances are probably core pathogenetic processes not derivative features. I hypothesized that in this subtype of depression, i.e. in "5-HT related depression", the key psychopathological disturbances are dysregulation of anxiety and aggression, while mood lowering is a "by-product". Based on this hypothesis it was predicted that agents which ameliorate anxiety and/or aggression via harmonization of 5-HT ergic transmission will, in addition, exert overall antidepressant effect in "5-HT related depression". The study of the relative "weight" of the various psychopathological components of depression is a basic exercise in understanding the nature of that condition and could, as such, greatly facilitate the goal-directed search for new and innovative antidepressants.
Department of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, New York, NY.
H M
HM
van Praag
D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D012701:Serotonin / Q000502:physiology*
D012701:Serotonin