Duloxetine in the acute and continuation treatment of major depressive disorder

Abstract

Duloxetine is a serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor with indications for use in the short term, continuation and maintenance treatment of major depression. Although clinicians currently have access to a range of medications for the treatment of depression, a significant number of patients fail to respond or remit from their illness despite adequate trials of treatment with multiple agents. A developing concept is that antidepressant strategies that combine multiple mechanisms of action may have advantages over agents with single mechanisms (i.e., selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). As a dual-acting agent, duloxetine offers the promise of advantages in terms of efficacy over sele..