Article

The role of glutamate on the action of antidepressants.

Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Chiba University Center for Forensic Mental Health, Chiba, Japan. .
Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry (impact factor: 3.25). 08/2011; 35(7):1558-68. DOI:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.06.013 pp.1558-68
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common, chronic, recurrent mental illness that affects millions of individuals worldwide. Currently available antidepressants are known to affect the monoaminergic (e.g., serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine) systems in the brain. Accumulating evidence suggests that the glutamatergic neurotransmission via the excitatory amino acid glutamate also plays an important role in the neurobiology and treatment of this disease. Clinical studies have demonstrated that the non-competitive N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist ketamine has rapid antidepressant effects in treatment-resistant patients with MDD, suggesting the role of glutamate in the pathophysiology of treatment-resistant MDD. Furthermore, a number of preclinical studies demonstrated that the agents which act at glutamate receptors such as NMDA receptors, α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid (AMPA) receptors and metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) might have antidepressant-like activities in animal models of depression. In this article, the author reviews the role of glutamate in the neuron-glia communication induced by potential antidepressants.

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Keywords

Accumulating evidence
 
affects millions
 
agents
 
animal models
 
author reviews
 
available antidepressants
 
Clinical studies
 
common
 
excitatory amino acid glutamate
 
Major depressive disorder
 
metabotropic glutamate receptors
 
neuron-glia communication induced
 
NMDA
 
NMDA receptors
 
non-competitive N-methyl-d-aspartate
 
potential antidepressants
 
preclinical studies
 
serotonin
 
treatment-resistant MDD
 
α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid
 

Kenji Hashimoto