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Thyroid hormones and the treatment of depression: An examination of basic hormonal actions in the mature mammalian brain
Author(s) -
Henley William Nolan,
Koehnle Thomas Joseph
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
synapse
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.809
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1098-2396
pISSN - 0887-4476
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2396(199709)27:1<36::aid-syn4>3.0.co;2-e
Subject(s) - hormone , serotonergic , antidepressant , thyroid hormones , neuroscience , thyroid , mood , mechanism (biology) , depression (economics) , medicine , psychology , serotonin , endocrinology , psychiatry , receptor , hippocampus , philosophy , epistemology , economics , macroeconomics
Numerous clinical reports indicate that thyroid hormones can influence mood, and a change in thyroid status is an important correlate of depression. Moreover, thyroid hormones have been shown to be effective as adjuncts for traditional antidepressant medications in treatment‐resistant patients. In spite of a large clinical literature, little is known about the mechanism by which thyroid hormones elevate mood. The lack of mechanistic insight reflects, in large part, a longstanding bias that the mature mammalian central nervous system is not an important target site for thyroid hormones. Biochemical, physiological, and behavioral evidence is reviewed that provides a clear picture of their importance for neuronal function. This paper offers the hypothesis that the thyroid hormones influence affective state via postreceptor mechanisms that facilitate signal transduction pathways in the adult mammalian brain. This influence is generalizable to widely recognized targets of antidepressant therapies such as noradrenergic and serotonergic neurotransmission. Synapse 27:36–44, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.