March 24 2014. A nasal spray that delivers a peptide to treat depression holds
promise as a potential alternative therapeutic approach, research from the
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows.
CAMH's Fang Liu developed a protein peptide that provided a highly targeted approach to treating depression that she hopes will have minimal side effects.
The peptide was just as effective in relieving symptoms when compared to a conventional antidepressant in animal testing. But the peptide had to be injected into the brain. Taken orally, it would not cross the blood-brain barrier in sufficient concentrations. Clinically, we needed to find a non-invasive, convenient method to deliver this peptide treatment,” says Dr. Liu , “This study marks the first time a peptide treatment has been delivered through nasal passageways to treat depression.The peptide treatment interferes with the binding of two dopamine receptors – the D1 and D2 receptor
CAMH's Fang Liu developed a protein peptide that provided a highly targeted approach to treating depression that she hopes will have minimal side effects.
The peptide was just as effective in relieving symptoms when compared to a conventional antidepressant in animal testing. But the peptide had to be injected into the brain. Taken orally, it would not cross the blood-brain barrier in sufficient concentrations. Clinically, we needed to find a non-invasive, convenient method to deliver this peptide treatment,” says Dr. Liu , “This study marks the first time a peptide treatment has been delivered through nasal passageways to treat depression.The peptide treatment interferes with the binding of two dopamine receptors – the D1 and D2 receptor
The
peptide treatment interferes with the binding of two dopamine receptors – the
D1 and D2 receptor
complex. Dr. Liu’s team had found that this binding was
higher in the brains of people with major depression. Disrupting the binding
led to the anti-depressant effects.
The
peptide is an entirely new approach to treating depression, which has
previously relied on medications that primarily block serotonin or
norepinephrine transporters.
Depression,
the most common form of mental illness, is one of the leading causes of
disability globally. More than 50 per cent of people living with depression do
not respond to first-line medication treatment.
“This
research brings us one step closer to clinical trials,” says Dr. Liu. In
ongoing lab research, her team is experimenting to determine if they can make
the peptide break down more slowly, and travel more quickly in the brain, to
improve its anti-depressant effects.
SOURCE:
CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health)
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