Experimental Therapeutics in Treatment-Resistant Major Depressive Disorder

• Main Authors: Kaur M, Sanches M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2021-02-01
• Series: Journal of Experimental Pharmacology
• Subjects: major depressive disorder; treatment resistant depression; anti-depressants; pharmacology; deep brain stimulation; hpa axis; psychedelic agents
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/experimental-therapeutics-in-treatment-resistant-major-depressive-diso-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-JEP

Mandeep Kaur,1 Marsal Sanches2 1Department of Behavioral Medicine, Cone Health, Greensboro, NC, USA; 2UT Health Center of Excellence on Mood Disorders, Faillace Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX, USACorrespondence: Mandeep KaurGeneral, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Department of Behavioral Medicine, Cone Behavioral Health Hospital, 700 Walter Reed Drive, Greensboro, North Carolina, 27410, USATel [phone]Email [e-mail]: Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) patients remain a challenging sub-division of patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in day to day clinical practice. As with any diagnostic condition, comprehensive evaluation, exclusion of other psychiatric conditions, assessment of co-morbid medical and psychiatric illnesses and psychosocial stressors are the keys to appropriate diagnosis and subsequent management. There are various management options available for the treatment of MDD, however, about 30% of the patients fail to achieve full remission of symptoms despite multiple trials and belong to this sub-category of MDD. This article brings forth discussion of other non-conventional medication and non-medication treatment alternatives that merit exploration of their efficacy in TRD. Many of the proposed novel medications and other treatment modalities such as Deep Brain Stimulation, exercise, yoga are already used for other medical and psychiatric disorders and have some evidence suggesting their potential benefits in TRD in conjunction with conventional medications or even as monotherapy. Nevertheless, more research is needed in this direction to establish effectiveness.Keywords: major depressive disorder, treatment-resistant depression, anti-depressants, pharmacology, deep brain stimulation, HPA axis, psychedelic agents