Authors: Oskotsky T, Maric I, Tang A, Oskotsky B, Wong RJ, Sirota M PMID: 34779847 PMCID: PMC8593759 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.33090 Abstract Importance: Antidepressant use may be associated with reduced levels of several proinflammatory cytokines suggested to be involved with the development of severe COVID-19. An association between the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)-specifically fluoxetine [...]

Authors: Hengartner MP, Amendola S, Kaminski JA PMID: 33685964 DOI: 10.1136/jech-2020-214611 Abstract Background: There is ongoing controversy whether antidepressant use alters suicide risk in adults with depression and other treatment indications. Methods: Systematic review of observational studies, searching MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, PsycARTICLES and SCOPUS for case-control and cohort studies. We included studies on [...]

Authors: Hengartner MP, Ploderi M PMID: 31234169 DOI: 10.1159/000501215 Abstract Studies disagree whether antidepressants may trigger suicide attempts in adults with major depression. Some meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCT) found significantly elevated rates of (attempted) suicide in antidepressant arms relative to placebo, whereas others did not. A recent study by Khan et al. likewise [...]

Abstract How on earth could an antidepressant drug drive someone to murder? In the past two columns RxISK has heard from two people who know they can. In The Man Who Thought He Was A Monster, Steindor Erlingsson shared his own story of being tormented with urges to stab his wife and young children while [...]

Authors: Lin OA, Karim ZA, Vemana HP, Espinosa EV, Khasawneh FT PMID: 24466319 PMCID: PMC3900701 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087026 Abstract There is considerable interest in defining new agents or targets for antithrombotic purposes. The 5-HT2A receptor is a G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) expressed on many cell types, and a known therapeutic target for many disease states. This [...]

Authors: Renoir T PMID: 23596418 PMCID: PMC3627130 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2013.00045 Abstract Besides demonstrated efficacy, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) hold other advantages over earlier antidepressants such as greater tolerability and a wider range of clinical applications. However, there is a growing body of clinical evidence which suggests that SSRIs could, in some cases, be associated with [...]

Authors: Lau T, Horschitz S, Berger S, Bartsch D, Schloss P PMID: 18216289 DOI: 10.1096/fj.07-095471 Abstract A deficiency of serotonergic signaling is thought to be involved in the etiology of depression. Thus, drugs blocking the reuptake of serotonin back into the neurons are widely used in treatment of this disease; however, their delayed effect in [...]

Authors: Levenson CW PMID: 16491668 DOI: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2006.tb00171.x Abstract Low serum zinc levels have been linked to major depression. Furthermore, zinc treatment has been shown to have an antidepressant effect. With the hope of understanding the role of zinc in mood disorders, recent work has begun to explore possible mechanisms of zinc action on serotonin uptake [...]

Authors: Nowak G, Szewczyk B, Pilc A PMID: 16382189 Abstract Unsatisfactory clinical efficacy and a variety of adverse effects of current antidepressant drugs have incited search for better therapy. Zinc, an antagonist of the glutamate/N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, exhibits antidepressant-like activity in rodent tests/models of depression. Similarly to antidepressants, zinc induces brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) [...]