Therapeutic indications for serotonin-potentiating compounds: A hypothesis

H. M. van Praag, R. Kahn, G. M. Asnis, C. Z. Lemus, S. L. Brown

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

53 Scopus citations

Abstract

The original antidepressants, tricyclics and MAO inhibitors, increase the availability in the brain of both 5-HT and NA. Prompted by clinical findings suggestive of 5-HT disturbances in depression, drugs were developed that increase 5-HT selectively. Data are presented that suggest that broad-spectrum compounds may provide better conditions for antidepressant effects than the 5-HT-selective ones. The hypothesis is proposed that 5-HT potentiators (1) are partial antidepressants, in that they predominantly reduce the anxiety/aggressive component of the depressive syndrome, and (2) deserve to be tested in conditions with heightened anxiety and/or aggression irrespective of the nosological diagnosis. Tentative evidence relates diminished 5-HT metabolism to disordered impulse control. Based on these data, trials of 5-HT potentiators in impulse control disorders unrelated to aggressive drives seem warranted.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)205-212
Number of pages8
JournalBiological Psychiatry
Volume22
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1987
Externally publishedYes

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