New Pharmacological Approaches to the Management of Depression: From Theory to Clinical Practice

Abstract

A review of the clinical efficacy of four structurally distinct antidepressant drugs is presented. Their antidepressant activity can be rationalised within current pharmacological hypotheses of drug action, despite markedly different effects on “in vitro” testing. Fluoxetine, a specific serotonin re-uptake inhibitor, has proven safe, effective treatment for depressive illness and may have a role to play in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic attacks. While it has few of the anticholinergic side effects of the tricyclic antidepressants, nausea, tremor, headache, weight loss, nervousness and sweating are side effects most frequently reported. Minaprine, a compound with wea..