Tianeptine, an atypical pharmacological approach to depression

Publication date: Available online 26 July 2019Source: Revista de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental (English Edition)Author(s): Cecilio Alamo, Pilar García-Garcia, Francisco Lopez-Muñoz, Cristina ZaragozáAbstractThe introduction of the first antidepressants in the 50s of the 20th century radically changed the treatment of depression, while providing information on pathophysiological aspects of this disease. New antidepressants drugs (agomelatine, tianeptine, vortioxetine) are providing data that give rise to pathophysiological hypotheses of depression that differ from the classic monoaminergic theory. In this sense, tianeptina, an atypical drug by its mechanism of differential action, contributes to clarify that in depression there is more than monoamines. Thus, tianeptine does not modify the rate of extracellular serotonin, so it does not increase or decrease the reuptake of serotonin. Chronic administration of tianeptine does not alter the density or affinity of more than a hundred classical receptors related to depression. Recently, a weak action of tianeptine on Mu opioid receptors has been described that could explain the release of dopamine in the limbic system and its participation in the modulation of glutamatergic mechanisms. These mechanisms support the hypothesis of the possible mechanism of action of this antidepressant.Tianeptine is an antidepressant, with anxiolytic properties, that can improve somatic symptoms. Tianeptine as a glutamatergic modulator, among other ...
Source: Revista de Psiquiatria y Salud Mental - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research