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View Full Version : New antidepressant... GLYX-13



Adelaide
12-09-2012, 04:15 PM
The compound, called GLYX-13, is the result of more than two decades of work by Joseph Moskal, research professor of biomedical engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and director of the University's Falk Center for Molecular Therapeutics.

"Our study showed that this compound is capable of eliciting a robust and rapid antidepressant effect without the typical side effects seen with other drugs that also modulate the NMDA receptor," said Moskal, who is founder and chief scientific officer of the Evanston-based biotechnology company Naurex Inc., which conducted the clinical study.

GLYX-13 works by modulating the NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor in the brain, as do current NMDA receptor antagonists such as ketamine, but GLYX-13 does not have their serious and limiting side effects, such as hallucinations and schizophrenia-like effects. (An antagonist is a substance that inhibits the physiological action of another.)

Moskal and his team have figured out a new way to target the NMDA receptors that maintains the positive antidepressant properties while eliminating the negative side effects.

In clinical trials administered at 12 sites across the country, a single dose of GLYX-13 resulted in significant reductions in depression symptoms among subjects who had shown little improvement with previous drugs. (Subjects had failed treatment with one or more antidepressant agents.)



New antidepressant acts very rapidly, long lasting (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121207094604.htm)

Still will require a lot of research and testing, but it's an interesting new approach to treating depression in treatment-resistant depression. This could seriously change the way depression is treated, and could be sort of the Clozapine of depression if it ends up being used.

Conley
12-09-2012, 06:07 PM
Isnt NMDA what exctasy (the drug) triggers?

GrassrootsConservative
12-09-2012, 06:10 PM
Isnt NMDA what exctasy (the drug) triggers?

That's MDMA.

Conley
12-09-2012, 06:17 PM
That's MDMA.

Thanks, I thought I saw something in the news lately about some kind of ecstacy type drug being used therapeutically and thought this might be along the same lines...I'll start a different thread

GrassrootsConservative
12-09-2012, 06:24 PM
MDMA has been shown to have some antidepressant qualities, and has recently been subjected to observation in veterans with PTSD. It's not without it's side effects though, like everything else.
A bit of personal testimony here, back in High School I was awful depressed a lot, didn't have too many friends and my school work (read: grades) were suffering quite a bit. I started smoking pot and things improved, I am no longer depressed, I have more friends, and in senior year my GPA improved by almost a full half of a point.

Different strokes for different folks, but I do believe depression is a real problem.

Adelaide
12-10-2012, 01:44 AM
MDMA has been shown to have some antidepressant qualities, and has recently been subjected to observation in veterans with PTSD. It's not without it's side effects though, like everything else.
A bit of personal testimony here, back in High School I was awful depressed a lot, didn't have too many friends and my school work (read: grades) were suffering quite a bit. I started smoking pot and things improved, I am no longer depressed, I have more friends, and in senior year my GPA improved by almost a full half of a point.

Different strokes for different folks, but I do believe depression is a real problem.

I actually used MDMA extensively for about 1.5-2 years. I think you'd need to be careful about dependency and what happens after a dose wears off. The crash from MDMA was probably one of the worst experiences in my life, and after a 3 day rave I went to, I can't even describe the depression. I've used many/most other drugs and never experienced that kind of dip in mood. I remember calling my best friend at one point and saying, "I don't even have the power to hold my head up, I'm so depressed." I was doing it every weekend, and the crash would last for about 2-3 days. I didn't experience problems stopping, and I no longer use any form of drugs, but if someone handed me an MDMA pill right now, I would take it without thinking twice. It's an amazing drug/high... until it wears off.

Apparently that crash is common, but not universal. Most first time users don't experience it at all, but chronic users do.

Of course, I'm sure that using it therapeutically would mean using controlled dosages at lower levels (and not cut with meth and other drugs/chemicals), but I'd still be concerned about the crash. Coming off of such a drug would be a miserable experience, I'd imagine, and worse than benzodizaepines (anti-anxiety medication, basically) which have their own syndrome for withdrawal.