Analysis of fluoxetine-induced plasticity mechanisms as a strategy for understanding plasticity related neural disorders.

Abstract

Fluoxetine hydrochloride, better known for its commercial name Prozac, is one of the most widely prescribed antidepressant drugs all over the world. This drug was considered a “breakthrough drug” for the treatment of depression because of its very high selectivity as a serotonin reuptake inhibitor and because it presented a lower side-effect profile than previous drugs (Wong et al., 2005). However, the precise mechanisms of fluoxetine action and how it alleviates mood disorders is still largely unknown.