Nature Reviews Drug Discovery

Targeting glutamate signalling in depression: progress and prospects

This review (2017) examines the history, rationale, and efficacy of glutamate-modulating agents in treating depression. Ketamine has emerged as the prototypical fast-acting antidepressant and has yielded compelling hypotheses about the role of glutamate, although the role of its effects on NMDA receptor inhibition still remains unclear as to whether it alleviates depression. Preliminary evidence also suggests that ketamine-like drugs exert antidepressant properties by regulating monoamine signaling, opioid signaling, inflammatory systems, or even epigenetic mechanisms.

Published

March 17, 2021

Journal

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery

Authors

Murrough, J. W., Abdallah, C. G., Mathew, S. J.