[Future antidepressant research and pharmacogenomics].
Although antidepressants have been used clinically for more than 50 years, no consensus has been reached concerning their precise molecular mechanism of action. Using pharmacogenomics tools, we and other investigators have identified as candidate molecular targets several genes or expressed sequence tags (ESTs) that are induced by chronic antidepressant treatment. In this article, we review antidepressant-elicited changes in gene expression, focusing especially on the remodeling of neuronal circuits that results. This refocusing motivates our hypothesis that this plasticity represents the mechanism for drug efficacy, and thus a causal event for clinical improvement. Consideration of novel biological approaches beyond the "monoamine hypothesis" of depression is expected to evoke paradigm shifts in the future of antidepressant research.
Yamada
Mitsuhiko
M
Department of Psychiatry, Showa University Karasuyama Hospital.
D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D015195:Drug Design; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D006801:Humans; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D010597:Pharmacogenetics
D000928:Antidepressive Agents