Antidepressants increase the number of nerve cells in the brain because they act on the glucocorticoid receptors of neurons, reports New Scientist.
The hippocampus is one of two parts of the brain where new nerve cells are known to appear throughout life. This process is called neurogenesis, and it is disturbed in people with depression, although it is unclear whether the disturbance is caused or caused by depression. Certainly, one of the effects of antidepressants is the stimulation of neurogenesis in the hippocampus.
Christoph Anacker and his colleagues at King’s College, London, investigated the mechanism of action of antidepressants.
Previous research has shown a link between certain antidepressants and the hormone glucocorticoids secreted during stress. Therefore, Anacker’s team decided to check whether one of these drugs – sertraline – affects glucocorticoid receptors in brain cells. Sertraline was added to the laboratory culture of hippocampal progenitor cells. 10 days later in culture, the appearance of the number of new neurons by 25% was observed. greater than expected.
However, when a drug blocking glucocorticoid receptors was introduced into culture earlier, the effect of antidepressants was blocked – the number of newly formed cells was as high as without sertraline. This suggests that antidepressants stimulate the emergence of new cells through the glucocorticoid receptor – although they stimulate it differently from the latter.
According to specialists, thanks to the new discovery, it will be easier to obtain more effective antidepressants – acting on the endocrine system and related to stress (PAP).