Basic psychopharmacology of antidepressants, part 2: Estrogen as an adjunct to antidepressant treatment.
Estrogen exerts profound effects upon behavior by interacting with neuronal estrogen receptors. Changes in estrogen levels over a woman's life cycle are linked not only to behavioral fluctuations, but potentially to the onset or recurrence of mood disorders. The modern psychiatric evaluation of women requires obtaining a complete reproductive history, including details of hormone treatments, while identifying reproductive events as triggers of affective disorder episodes. While guidelines for the use of reproductive hormones in psychiatry are just evolving, administration of estrogen as an adjunct to antidepressants is an exciting possibility for expanding the frontiers of psychiatry into the field of women's health.
Stahl
S M
SM
Clinical Neuroscience Research Center and the Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego 92122, USA.
D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010819:Physician's Role; D011374:Progesterone / Q000494:pharmacology; D011570:Psychiatry; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000187:drug effects; D012008:Recurrence; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D016387:Women's Health
D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D004967:Estrogens; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011374:Progesterone