title: Antidepressants can treat inflammatory bowel disease through regulation of the nuclear factor-κB/nitric oxide pathway and inhibition of cytokine production: A hypothesis.
abstract: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory disorders mainly affecting the colon and small intestine. The main types of IBD are Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). UC is restricted to the large intestine whereas CD can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract. Treating this disorder depends on the form and level of severity. Common treatment involves an anti-inflammatory drug, such as mesalazine, and an immunosuppressant, such as prednisone. Several signaling pathways, including nuclear factor (NF)-κB and nitric oxide (NO), and genetic and environmental factors are believed to play an important role in IBD. Amitriptyline is a commonly used antidepressant with known anti-inflammatory activities. Amitriptyline also acts on the NF-κB/NO pathway or cytokine production. Therefore, we hypothesize that antidepressants like amitriptyline can be pioneered and considered effective as an innovative and effective therapeutic in the treatment and attenuation of development of IBD in adjusted doses.
authors.affiliation: Hamid Reza Rahimi, Mahdi Shiri, Department of Toxicology and Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 15614, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Rahimi
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shiri
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Razmi
keywords: Antidepressant; Crohn’s disease; Inflammatory bowel disease; Nitric oxide; Nuclear factor-κB