5-HT receptor antagonism a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of depression and other disorders.

BACKGROUND

Depression or Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prolonged condition of sadness. MDD is the most common mental disorder that affects more than 264 million people worldwide. According to the monoamine hypothesis, serotonin (5-hydroxy tryptamine, 5-HT), dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE) are the major neurotransmitters (NTs) involved in depression.

METHODS

The methodology adopted for writing this review article is essentially based on the secondary literature search through a systematic literature review. This review mainly focussed on the role of 5-HT receptor antagonists (5-HTRA) in depression and comorbid disorders like anxiety.

RESULTS

Out of three major NTs mentioned above, serotonin has a predominant role in the pathophysiology of depression. The serotonin type-3 receptors (5-HTR) are well renowned to be expressed in the central nervous system (CNS) in regions which have significance in the vomiting reflex, perception of pain, the reward system, cognition, depression and anxiety control. 5-HTR are the receptors of serotonergic family that belong to ligand-gated ion channel. 5-HTRA inhibit the binding of serotonin to postsynaptic 5-HTR and increases its availability to other receptors like 5- HT, and as well as 5-HT receptors and produces anti-depressant-like effect. 5-HTRA also have an important role in mood and stress disorders. Some of the studies have shown the effectiveness of these agents in stress disorder.

CONCLUSION

The present article focussed on the role of 5-HTR and their antagonists in the treatment of depression and anxiety. Further studies are warranted to prove their efficacy with respect to other standard anti-depressants.