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Brain Mutation May Explain Ineffective Depression Medication

Newspaper current event by Brandon on 09 October 2006, tagged as psychology and research

Depression medications often take weeks to show results, something that can prove extremely frustrating to both psychiatrists and the depressed, as 60% of patients given drugs for depression do not respond to the first medication that they are prescribed. Nature is reporting, however, that researchers have identified a mutation in the gene encoding brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that may explain this trend, one found in as many as 30% of Caucasians.

Serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly prescribed to treat depression and work by increasing the amount of serotonin available to neurons in the brain. Mice with the BDNF mutation in this study showed the expected anxiety by spending less time exploring open spaces, but surprisingly they "were not helped by fluoxetine," the active ingredient in SSRIs. Doctors hope that this discovery could eventually lead to the ability to screen depression patients for this brain mutation with the goal of improving the success rate of prescribed treatments.

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Fluoxetine - a weak clinical indicator by AdamWysokinski :: NR5

Hi,

but surprisingly they "were not helped by fluoxetine,"

It may be a very interesting and fruitful discovery. However, as I see in my clinical practice - fluoxetine is rather an 'average' antidepressant and therefore, I don’t like the idea to treat it as a reference point. As it was discovered as the first SSRI, it may be a bit 'outdated' nowadays. I use it mostly often to treat patients with bulimia nervosa, but I prefer more modern SSRIs, like citalopram, or its active metabolite - escitalopram. The last one is my 'favorite' antidepressant - it's reliable, the first effects of the treatment appear faster comparing to other SSRIs and it’s generally very well tolerated by the patients. The problem is that escitalopram is much more expensive than other SSRIs. However, the patients in USA are in a more comfortable situation, as the generic drug has been approved by FDA.

BTW, welcome back after so many months, I do hope you still remember me :)

Posted 11 October 2006, Hide, Reply