Title:From Inhibition of GABA-A Receptor-Mediated Synaptic Transmission by
Conventional Antidepressants to Negative Allosteric Modulators of Alpha5-
GABA-A Receptors as Putative Fast-Acting Antidepressant Drugs:
Closing the Circle?
Volume: 20
Issue: 1
Author(s): Alberto Fernández-Teruel*
Affiliation:
- Department of Psychiatry & Forensic Medicine, Institute of Neurosciences, Autonomous University of Barcelona,
08193-Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
Keywords:
GABA-A transmission, conventional antidepressants, antidepressant drugs, modulators of alpha5-GABA-A, GABA-A receptors, negative allosteric modulators.
Abstract: The present perspective paper shortly and specifically addresses the issues of whether inhibition
of GABA-A receptor-mediated synaptic transmission may be involved in antidepressantlike
actions and the therapeutic effects of conventional antidepressant (AD) drugs, and whether the
recent development of negative allosteric modulators (NAMs) of the alpha5-GABA-A receptor may
constitute significant progress in our knowledge on the neurobiology and the treatment of depression.