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High‐Quality Antidepressant Discovery by Understanding Stress Hormone Physiology
Author(s) -
HOLSBOER FLORIAN
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1286.038
Subject(s) - vasopressin , hormone , antidepressant , blockade , psychopathology , receptor , neuropeptide , corticotropin releasing hormone , medicine , endocrinology , psychology , neuroscience , pharmacology , psychiatry , hippocampus
A bstract : Compensating the consequences of impaired corticosteroid receptor signaling is a novel strategy to discover better antidepressants. The prevailing drugs gradually improve stress hormone regulation along with ameliorating psychopathology. The current understanding of how neuropeptides, such as corticotropin‐releasing hormone (CRH) and vasopressin (AVP), drive cortisol secretion via corticotrophin has paved the way for CRH‐ and AVP‐receptor antagonists. As alternative strategies, the blockade of corticosteroid receptors or inhibition of cortisol synthesis has emerged. All these strategies are not yet fully clinically developed, but preliminary data from basic and clinical research strongly underscore that such strategies may lead to innovative treatment modalities.