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New Fast Acting Antidepressant Not Ketamine

minkeygirl

But I Look So Good.
Messages
4,678
Location
Left Coast
http://www.latimes.com/science/scie...ressant-not-ketamine-20140501,0,2180858.story


Existing antidepressants, if they work at all, can take weeks to work, and for the deeply depressed, that can mean the difference between life and death. Researchers have discovered and tested an agent that, in mice at least, appears to reverse hopeless behavior quickly and continues to work for a sustained period.

And it's not ketamine, the anesthesia medication-turned-party drug that has a shown promise as a fast-acting antidepressant hobbled by a host of practical drawbacks.

The latest hope as a psychiatric rescue drug is called MI-4, and news of its promise was reported earlier this week at the San Diego meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). Scientists also have identified the drug as Ro-25-6981.

In the test tube, MI-4 was found to simultaneously increase the availability in the brain of three neurotransmitters that play a key role in depression: serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. Researchers led by Jeffery N. Talbot of Roseman University of Health Science in Henderson, Nev., found that in mice that had been stressed and trained to expect no rescue from frightening circumstances -- a depression-like condition called "learned helplessness" -- MI-4 quickly restored more hopeful behavior and continued to do so for three weeks -- a lengthy stretch for a mouse.

Compared with a placebo medication, MI-4 made virtual social butterflies of mice who had been brought low by social defeat, and whose depression manifested as withdrawal. And for a continuous three-week period, it helped fortify those mice against the soul-crushing effects of further social defeat.

MI-4 appears to have several advantages over ketamine, which, as a drug that induces a sort of out-of-body high when used at higher doses and is, therefore, considered to have abuse potential. Mice taking MI-4 were no more likely to hang out close to the drug-dispenser than they were to wander around and explore and socialize -- a clear sign that its abuse or addictive potential is low.

Ketamine also needs to be infused, and at careful doses. While it is highly effective at lifting depression quickly, it's not easy for a patient to take it home and stay on it for a long period.

MI-4 was found during a "virtual screening," in which a computer model is used to find agents that act on known targets, in this case, for depression drugs.

“From looking at its structure, one would never have guessed that this drug interacts with the same monoamine transporter proteins as does Paxil or cocaine, but it does. That speaks to the ‘needle in a haystack’ detection power of the virtual screening methodology,” said Christopher Surratt, a professor of pharmacology working on this aspect of the study at Duquesne University.
 

Martial

Senior Member
Messages
1,409
Location
Ventura, CA
Geez, I feel horrible for those poor mice.. Never knew depression could happen in animals, thought it was a human thing because of how we have the ability to self reflect and have a human "mind". In many ways animals feel much more sane then some of the things humans do lol.
 

heapsreal

iherb 10% discount code OPA989,
Messages
10,089
Location
australia (brisbane)
Its strange when they say 1-2 weeks to work, my experience is that i feel their effects within hours of taking them, how well they work is another story i guess.

Tramadol is known to help people who are in a deep depression. It not only works on opiate receptor sites but it also works on serotonin and noradrenaline, which many AD's work on. Maybe its the extra effects of the opiate receptors thats making the difference.

I have been using tramadol for back pain for along time now so the effects on mood etc i think have worn off. But when i first started using tramadol for back pain it worked well but i did notice an increase in energy from it as well as a better mood. This happened almost straight away, there was no waiting for mood effects.

I dont think a doc would prescribe tramadol for depression but i guess if one has ongoing pain as well as depression then its an option. ALso i think maybe drug makers need to look into other receptors other then just serotonin and noradrenaline to increase mood but also opiate receptors, dopamine and im sure theres others.
 

Martial

Senior Member
Messages
1,409
Location
Ventura, CA
Its strange when they say 1-2 weeks to work, my experience is that i feel their effects within hours of taking them, how well they work is another story i guess.

Tramadol is known to help people who are in a deep depression. It not only works on opiate receptor sites but it also works on serotonin and noradrenaline, which many AD's work on. Maybe its the extra effects of the opiate receptors thats making the difference.

I have been using tramadol for back pain for along time now so the effects on mood etc i think have worn off. But when i first started using tramadol for back pain it worked well but i did notice an increase in energy from it as well as a better mood. This happened almost straight away, there was no waiting for mood effects.

I dont think a doc would prescribe tramadol for depression but i guess if one has ongoing pain as well as depression then its an option. ALso i think maybe drug makers need to look into other receptors other then just serotonin and noradrenaline to increase mood but also opiate receptors, dopamine and im sure theres others.


I felt weird as heck always about a few hours from taking any anti depressents before. The kind of highs it gave me would not come on for a bit of time though, really it just made me feel more numb and emotionally unavailable then anything really ideal, I even lost the ability to feel love at some points.

I have found working on methylation helped better work my dopamine, seratonin, and other receptors more then SSRIs. It is better because it helps a natural balance in the body and I have started to long suspect pyuroluria which depletes b6 and zinc and can cause neuro transmitter levels to be much lower, just recently ordered testing for it.

The best anti depressent I have used has been Rhodiala Rosea, think I spelled that correctly.