Ruth Porter & Gregory R. Bock 
Antidepressants and Receptor Function [PDF ebook] 

Ciba Foundation Symposium 123 Antidepressants and Receptor Function
Chairman: Dennis Murphy, 1986

Depression is a common and often debilitating affective disorder. Attempts to develop effective antidepressants have a long history, but many questions remain about the mechanisms of action of such treatments and about the aetiology and pathophysiology of depression itself. Early observations centred attention on central monoamine systems, and animal studies suggested that changes in beta-adrenoceptor responsiveness were a common effect of antidepressant therapies. More recent research has encompassed many different central and peripheral receptors, time-dependent adaptational events at synapses, and the functional significance of changes in neurotransmitter systems in both humans and experimental animals. Such pharmacological studies aimed ultimately at elucidating the neurochemical basis of depression and of promoting new therapeutic approaches, provide the focus of this symposium volume. Many different methods of investigating the links between monoamine systems, depression and antidepressant treatments are described. Recent studies of receptors and of monoamine uptake sites in the brain and the periphery (e.g. in platelets and fibroblasts) are reviewed, with emphasis on alpha and beta adrenoceptors, [³H]imipramine-binding sites and serotonin receptors. The results of monitoring amine metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid and of measuring neuroendocrine, physiological and behavioural responses to pharmacological challenge are presented, providing information on monoaminergic function in depressed patients and experimental animals before, during and after treatment with antidepressant drugs or electroconvulsive shock. Genetic influences on receptor density are also discussed, as is the relevance to human depressive illness of animal models, including stress-induced behavioural depression in rats and responses to social stressors in rhesus monkeys.

This book should be of interest to neuropharmacologists, psychopharmacologists, clinical pharmacologists, behavioural scientists, psychiatrists and neuroscientists.

विषयसूची

Symposium on Depression, antidepressants and receptor sensitivity,
held at the Ciba Foundation, London, 19-21 November 1985

Editors: Ruth Porter, Gregory Bock (Organizer) and Sarah
Clark

D. Murphy Introduction

S.Z. Langer, A.M. Galzin, C.R. Lee and H. Schoemaker
Antidepressant-binding sites in brain and platelets

Discussion

W.H. Berrettini, J. Bardakjian, A.L. Barnett Jr, J.I. Nurnberger
Jr and E.S. Gershon beta-Adrenoceptor function in human adult
skin fibroblasts: a study of manic-depressive illness

Discussion

P. Propping, W. Friedl, J. Hebebrand and K-U. Lentes Genetic
studies at the receptor level: investigations in human twins and
experimental animals

Discussion

M. Åsberg and A. Wägner Biochemical effects of
antidepressant treatment–studies of monoamine metabolites in
cerebrospinal fluid and platelet [³H]imipramine
binding

Discussion

R.W. Horton, C.L.E. Katona, A.E. Theodorou, A.S. Hale, S.L.
Davies, C. Tunnicliffe, Y. Yamaguchi, E.S. Paykel and J.S. Kelly
Platelet radioligand binding and neuroendocrine challenge tests in
depression

Discussion

D.L. Murphy, C.S. Aulakh and N. A. Garrick How antidepressants
work: cautionary conclusions based on clinical and laboratory
studies of the longer-term consequences of monoamine
oxidase-inhibiting antidepressants

Discussion

S.A. Checkley, T.H. Corn, I.B. Glass, C. Thompson, C. Franey and
J. Arendt Neuroendocrine and other studies of the mechanism of
antidepressant action of desipramine

Discussion

L.J. Siever, E.F. Coccaro, E. Benjamin, K. Rubinstein and K.L.
Davis Adrenergic and serotonergic receptor responsiveness in
depression

Discussion

General discussion I

A. Frazer, G. Ordway, J. O’Donnell, P. Vos and B. Wolfe
Effect of repeated administration of clenbuterol on the regulation
of beta-adrenoceptors in the central nervous system of the
rat

Discussion

J.M. Weiss and P.G. Simson Depression in an animal model: focus
on the locus ceruleus

Discussion

G.W. Kraemer Causes of changes in brain noradrenaline systems
and later effects on responses to social stressors in rhesus
monkeys: the cascade hypothesis

Discussion

J. Vetulani, L. Antkiewicz-Michaluk, A. Rokosz-Pelc and J.
Michaluk Effects of chronically administered antidepressants and
electroconvulsive treatment on cerebral neurotransmitter receptors
in rodents with ‘model depression’

Discussion

A.R. Green, D.J. Heal and G.M. Goodwin The effects of
electroconvulsive therapy and antidepressant drugs on monoamine
receptors in rodent brain–similarities and differences

Discussion

General discussion II

Closing remarks

Index of contributors

Subject index

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