Comparative efficacy between venlafaxine and SSRIs: a pooled analysis of patients with depression.

Background: Serotonergic and adrenergic enhancement may be synergistic and more effective than serotonergic enhancement alone in treating depression. The dual serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) venlafaxine is a dual reuptake inhibitor that may therefore offer greater efficacy than selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

Methods: Data from eight randomized, double-blind, controlled studies were pooled to compare efficacy in depressed patients receiving venlafaxine/venlafaxine extended release (XR), SSRIs, or placebo for View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Some relationships among assessments of depression.

The Directions program provides an administratively efficient method to screen for psychological disorders in a primary-care setting (FOCUS), confirm the need for treatment, and monitor progress (COMPASS-PC). The instruments are psychometrically sound and grounded in an established theory of mental-health treatment. The present study reports the relationships between FOCUS, COMPASS-PC, and the Hamilton Depression scale for a sample of patients who have been diagnosed as major depressive disorder, dysthymia, or depressive syndrome by standardized criteria (i.

Independent actions on fear circuits may lead to therapeutic synergy for anxiety when combining serotonergic and GABAergic agents.

Both serotonin and GABA powerfully regulate the neuroanatomical circuit that mediates fear in anxiety disorders. This suggests that use of pharmacotherapies acting on both systems may provide synergistic therapeutic actions.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, which enantiomer is fairest of them all?

Numerous psychotropic drugs exist as a mixture of 2 mirror-image stereoisomers of each other, each called an enantiomer and the mixture called a racemate. Often the drug can be improved when only 1 of the enantiomers is administered.

Effects of reboxetine on anxiety, agitation, and insomnia: results of a pooled evaluation of randomized clinical trials.

Several recent clinical trials have established that reboxetine, a new selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (selective NRI), is effective and safe for the treatment of major depression. However, the effects of reboxetine on specific symptoms of anxiety, agitation, and insomnia have not been reported. Data were obtained from nine short-term, double-blind, randomized clinical trials in patients with major depression.

Awakening to the psychopharmacology of sleep and arousal: novel neurotransmitters and wake-promoting drugs.

Exciting new developments in the psychopharmacology of wakefulness are clarifying the neurotransmitters, pathways, and drugs that impact this important physiologic state. Selectively inducing normal wakefulness without stimulating external vigilance may lead to therapeutic benefits not only in sleep disorders but also in cognitive disorders and conditions associated with fatigue.

Does depression hurt?

Depression is an illness that causes symptoms in both the body and the brain, i.e., painful physical as well as emotional and vegetative symptoms.

Selective actions on sleep or anxiety by exploiting GABA-A/benzodiazepine receptor subtypes.

The next generation of anxiolytics may be subtype-selective partial agonists at GABA-A receptors. By exploiting new psychopharmacologic principles, such as the targeting of receptor subtypes that have unique subunits and the partial activation of these subtypes with stabilizers, we may eventually have anxiolytics that are rapid acting, but without sedation, amnesia, or dependence.

The psychopharmacology of energy and fatigue.

Second only to depressed mood itself tiredness, low energy, and listlessness are the most common symptoms associated with depression. Recent understanding of interactions between monoaminergic neurons may help explain why some antidepressants may be more rapidly energy restoring than others.

Effectiveness of ipsapirone, a 5-HT-1A partial agonist, in major depressive disorder: support for the role of 5-HT-1A receptors in the mechanism of action of serotonergic antidepressants.

Desensitisation of serotonin 1A (5-HT-1A) receptors is a leading hypothesis for the mechanism of action of antidepressants which block serotonin reuptake. This hypothesis predicts that direct-acting 5-HT-1A agonists should also exhibit anti-depressant properties. Here we report the results of the first large-scale controlled study of the efficacy and tolerability of a 5-HT-1A agonist in outpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD).