Posted by linkadge on May 20, 2006, at 23:27:39
In reply to Re: Statistical question on SSRIs - ADDENDUM » linkadge, posted by Squiggles on May 20, 2006, at 19:43:27
>Why would any chemist make an antidepressant
>that interferes with the release of dopamine?
>Isn't dopamine supposed to alleviate depression >and other negative emotions?This is it. Fast acting antidepressants generally work via affecting dopamine release.
When you take an SSRI, you are stimulating a number of serotonin receptors that will indirecectly supress dopamine release (for a while at least untill some sort of compensatory adapation takes place)
5-ht1a, 5-ht2a/c, 5-ht1b, (and others) act as indibitory pathways on dopamine function.
Sure SSRI's are selective to serotonin, but not to specific serotonin receptors, as a result the final product is often a wild free for all.
In contrast however, consider some endogenious neuromodulators such as anandamide. Anandamide agonizes 5-ht1a but antagonizes 5-ht2, 5-ht3, and other. Very rarely in nature, will you find compounds that affect the system as bluntly as the SSRI's do. The result, like I said, is a free for all. Doctors often try to augment with atypicals, since they block some of the undesirable serotonin receptors.
Linkadge
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URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060520/msgs/646411.html