Effects of Antidepressants on Neurotransmitter Systems and Their Mechanisms of Action in the Treatment of Depression

Abstract

Antidepressants are widely used for treating anxiety and depression, conditions affecting nearly 20% of the global population. The objective of this study is to investigate how antidepressants affect neurotransmitter systems understanding both their therapeutic and side effects. The main objective of this study is to identify the adaptive changes that are induced in brain structures by these drugs as well as describe their function in increasing synaptic levels of neurotransmitters like catecholamines and indoleamines. These functions are essentially exerted either by inhibiting the reuptake of neurotransmitters by neurons or by the metabolic deamination exerted by monoamine oxidase. However, the study concerns the nonappearance of a straightforward relationship between an action of antidepressants upon specific postsynaptic receptor sites and their therapeutic strength as well as adverse effects associated with adrenergic, muscarinic, and histaminergic receptors. The study focuses deeper into comprehension of long-term changes in neurotransmitter transmission as it could open up avenues that shed light upon issues related to the efficacy and optimization of antidepressant treatments for millions of people worldwide.