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Re: Why antidepressants don't work for so many

Posted by linkadge on October 26, 2009, at 8:09:40

In reply to Re: Why antidepressants don't work for so many, posted by Sigismund on October 25, 2009, at 20:06:18

They can tell a lot more than you might think about how the rat is feeling.

Like humans, depressed rats:

- Show sleep abnormalities such as early entry into rem sleep.

- Show hypersensitivity to cholinergic agents

- Show exaggerated fear reactions to new or other mice (humans)

- Show reduced tendencies to explore novel environments

- Elevated corticosterone and altered HPA axis function

- Show anhednonic tendencies such as reduced interest in sex, and reduced behavioral responces to drugs like cocaine

- Show diminished neuroendocrine responces to serotonerigc agents

- Show altered levels of cerebral monoamines and neuropeptides.

- Exhibit learning difficulties

- Suffer from elevated noradrenaline release in responce to stress and are often hypertensive.

- Many of these behavioral and neuroendocrine effects resolve with the administration of antidepressant agents and ECT, but not non antidepressant compounds

Ok so sure, so perhaps they can't tell what the rat is *feeling*, but don't suggest that they cannot make grounded inferences based on good research.

Animal models exist for many diseases and are often valid predictors of the sucess of drugs in humans.

Sure, perhaps only one in 8 drugs sucessful in rats ever proves to be useful in humans, but there are plenty of reasons for this. A compound may be an effective antidepressant yet clinically unuseful due to side effects. Its not as if all 7 out of 8 of those drugs do not have antidepressant effects in humans.

Linkadge


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URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20091021/msgs/922564.html