http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100916145101.htm"The response time to antidepressants, such as Prozac, is around three weeks. How can we explain this? The adaptation mechanisms of the neurons to antidepressants has, until now, remained enigmatic.
Research, published this week by the teams of Odile Kellermann (Inserm Unit 747 Cellules souches, Signalisation et Prions, Université Paris-Descartes) and of Jean-Marie Launay (Inserm Unit 942 Hôpital Lariboisière, Paris and the mental health network, Santé Mentale), sheds new light on the mechanisms of action of these drugs which have been used for more than 30 years and are heavily consumed over the world. In particular, the researchers have revealed, for the first time, a sequence of reactions caused by Prozac at the neuron level, which contributes to an increase in the amounts of serotonin, a chemical "messenger" essential to the brain, and deficient in depressive individuals.
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Depressive states are associated with a deficit of serotonin (5-HT), one of the neurotransmitters essential for communication between neurons and particularly involved in eating and sexual behaviours, the sleep-wake cycle, pain, anxiety and mood problems.
Strategies employing antidepressant class I molecules, developed since the 1960s are thus primarily aimed at increasing the quantity of serotonin released in the synaptic gap, the space between two neurons, where the nervous communications take place via the neurotransmitters. Although it has been known for several years that antidepressants like Prozac have the effect of increasing the concentration of serotonin by blocking its recapture by the serotonin transporter (SERT) in the synapses, we did not hitherto know how to explain the delay in their action (3 weeks).
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Now this is some fine Saturday reading.
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