Historically, psychiatric disorders such as mood disorders and schizophrenia have been conceptualized

as neurochemical illnesses. However, accumulating data from both postmortem and brain imaging studies reveal morphological changes in the brains of individuals with these illnesses. These changes include ventricle enlargement, volumetric reduction, attenuation of neuronal viability marker N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), and atrophy or loss of neurons and glial cells in selective cortical Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and limbic brain regions. Several psychotropic agents – defined as chemical substances that act primarily on the central nervous system (CNS) to alter brain function – are used to treat psychiatric disorders. These psychotropic agents include mood stabilizers, antidepressants, and antipsychotic medications. Many of these drugs exert 5-HT receptor agonist and antagonist clinical trial significant effects on signaling pathways enhancing neurotrophic Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and neuroprotective cellular mechanisms. Loosely defined, neurotrophic effects can be considered a therapeutic strategy intended to augment proliferation, differentiation, growth, and regeneration, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical whereas neuroprotective effects slow or halt

the progression of neuronal atrophy or cell death following the onset of disease or clinical decline. In this article, we review Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical evidence from animal and human studies reporting that psychotropic agents affect molecular targets and signaling cascades associated with enhanced neurotrophic and neuroprotective mechanisms, as well as reverse or reduce

behavioral deficits associated with preclinical animal models of mania and Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical depression and other psychiatric illnesses. While much of this work has focused on the mood stabilizers lithium and valproate, we will also review the available evidence that antidepressants and antipsychotics exert similar neurotrophic effects. Mood stabilizers Mood stabilizers are used to treat bipolar disorder (BPD), which is characterized by mood shifts between mania (characterized by elevated mood, increased energy, impaired judgment, and racing thoughts) and depression (characterized by low mood, anhedonia, etc). These therapeutic agents do not simply target a particular neurotransmitter system or cellular much signaling cascade, but diverse targets implicated in many signaling pathways. This may be because mood stabilizers were often designed to treat different disorders, and their use in the treatment of BPD frequently arose through serendipity; for instance, the mood stabilizers carbamazepine and valproate – both used to treat the manic symptoms of BPD – have anticonvulsant properties and were developed for the treatment of epilepsy.