Possible prospects for the combined administration of antidepressants and antioxidants in neurological patients

Abstract

Antidepressants (ADs) are a group of drugs whose action primarily consists of stimulating neurotransmitter systems (dopaminergic, serotonergic and noradrenergic systems). Neurologists prescribe them for the treatment of post-stroke and other depression, chronic pain syndromes, neuropathic pain, panic attacks, correction of post-Covid syndrome, for the prevention of migraines, Parkinson’s disease and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. However, even with appropriate therapy, many people with depressive disorder may experience subsyndromal symptoms and complete remission is short-lived, so there is a need to use other therapeutic approaches. Combining two or more antidepressants may target different neurochemical pathways while increasing the risk of side effects and the development of resistance. Therefore, the search for alternative treatments is urgent, and oxidative stress appears to be an interesting therapeutic target. The combined use of AD and antioxidants may provide an effective and safe approach to enhancing antidepressant effects by synergistically enhancing certain antidepressant activities (eg, enhancing monoamine reuptake inhibition) or by additive pharmacological effects, such as adjusting neurotransmitters and reducing the damaging effects of active agents. forms of oxygen. There are a number of clinical studies to prove the effectiveness of the combined use of antioxidants and antioxidants. In the group of patients receiving a combination of antioxidants and antidepressants/anti-anxiety drugs, there was a better regression of symptoms and severity of depression, which probably indicates the usefulness of adjuvant antioxidant therapy with regular psychotropic treatment. The use of combination drugs in complex therapy with blood pressure seems to be a promising direction and requires further study.