DMCM, a benzodiazepine site inverse agonist, improves active avoidance and motivation in the rat

Pre-clinical investigations of β-carboline alkaloids as antidepressant agents: A systematic review

Depressive disorders remain a current public health problem whose prevalence has increased in the past decades. In the constant search for new therapeutic alternatives, β-carboline alkaloids have been identified as good candidates for new antidepressant drugs. In this systematic review, we summarized all pre-clinical investigations involving the use of natural or semisynthetic β-carboline in depression models. A literature search was conducted in August 2018, using PubMed, Scopus and Science Direct databases. All reports were carefully analyzed, and data extraction was conducted through standardized forms. Methodological quality assessment of in vivo studies was also performed. The entire systematic review was performed according to PRISMA statement. From a total of 373 articles, 26 met all inclusion criteria. In vitro and in vivo studies have evaluated a wide variety of β-carbolines through enzymatic and binding assays, and acute or chronic animal models. Most of the in vivo and in vitro studies is concentrated on two molecules: harman and harmine. They have been investigated in several animal models and some mechanisms of action have been proposed for their antidepressant activity. In general, β-carbolines modulate 5-HT and GABA systems, promote neurogenesis, induce neuroendocrine response and restore astrocytic function, being effective when administrated acutely or chronically in different animal models, including chronic mild stress protocols. In short, β-carbolines are multi-target antidepressant compounds and may be useful in the treatment of depressive disorders.

Developmental pharmacology: A moving target

The main characteristic of pediatric and neonatal pharmacotherapy still is the insufficient availability of drugs with confirmed efficacy and safety data in children. Children differ from adults in the physiological, psychological and developmental terms and this subsequently results in differences in anticipated drug potency, efficacy and toxicity. This paper is focused on the most prominent issues of the contemporary developmental pharmacology. Child's age and development can significantly affect drug pharmacokinetics (PK) processes. The dosage of drugs for children must be based on the physiological characteristics, as well as PK parameters of the drug obtained from the clinical trials with children. While knowledge about the impact of developmental changes on drug PK is increasing, information regarding pharmacodynamics (PD) is still more limited. The examples from clinical and animal data on ontogeny of receptors resulted in strong evidence for changes in drug response during development, in addition to but independent from PK alterations. In order to improve the use of medicines in children, it is essentially to know the complex processes of growth and development into the pediatric drug development programs. This is because absence of PK/PD data leads to increased risk of over- or under-dosing, adverse reactions or inefficiency.