Premium
Substance P antagonists: the next breakthrough in treating depression?
Author(s) -
Baby S.,
Nguyen M.,
Tran D.,
Raffa R. B.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of clinical pharmacy and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.622
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2710
pISSN - 0269-4727
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2710.1999.00257.x
Subject(s) - antidepressant , nk1 receptor antagonist , antagonist , antagonism , medicine , clinical trial , pharmacology , depression (economics) , drug , substance p , mechanism (biology) , neuropeptide , receptor , hippocampus , economics , macroeconomics , philosophy , epistemology
SUMMARY Several lines of evidence implicate the neuropeptide substance P in depression, either in the pathogenesis or as a novel target for amelioration of symptoms. NK 1 (substance P) receptor antagonists have been reported to have antidepressant‐like actions in animal models. The first clinical trial of an NK 1 antagonist showed promising results. A second trial, using a more potent compound, is underway. If the clinical trials show that NK 1 (substance P) antagonism represents a well‐tolerated, distinct mechanism for antidepressant activity, novel antidepressant agents will emerge as mono‐ or adjunct‐therapy.