Corticotropin-releasing factor type-1 receptor
antagonists: The next class of antidepressants?
by
Nielsen DM.
Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies,
Brown University, Box G-BH,
Providence, RI 02912 USA.
Life Sci. 2005 Aug 22

ABSTRACT

Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) is a neuropeptide that plays a primary role in the neuroendocrine, autonomic, and behavioral responses to stressors. Numerous reports suggest that alterations in CRF function contribute to the pathogenesis of depression. Recently, selective nonpeptide CRF type 1 (CRF(1)) receptor antagonists have been discovered and several of these CRF(1) receptor antagonists have demonstrated antidepressant-like efficacy in animals. The CRF(1) receptor antagonists appear to be unique, as they exhibit antidepressant-like activity principally in animal models that are hyperresponsive to stress or under experimental conditions that alter endogenous stress-hormone activity. A nonpeptide CRF(1) receptor antagonist has also been shown to reduce symptoms of major depression in an open-label clinical trial. Accumulating evidence supports a role for nonpeptide CRF(1) receptor antagonists among the future pharmacotherapies for the treatment of depression.

CRF
LHPA
Astressin
Antalarmin
Ketoconazole
Noradrenaline
Corticosteroids
Cushing's syndrome
Glucocorticoids and mood
Hippocampal remodelling
HPA axis, serotonin and suicide
Depression, opioids and the HPA
Antidepressants and new brain cells
CRH, CRHR1 antagonists and depression
The corticosteroid hypothesis of depression
An overactive immune system and depression
New anxiolytics/antidepressants: R278995/CRA0450
Stress, dynorphin, dysphoria and the kappa opioid system

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