MAO Inhibitors from Natural Sources for Major Depression Treatment

Abstract

AbstractMajor depressive disorder is a disabling public health concern of high relevance worldwide. Psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy are the main approaches employed to treat patients with depressive symptoms. Antidepressants are drugs able to relieve symptoms of depression that work by affecting neurotransmitters like noradrenaline and serotonin in the brain. Despite antidepressant drugs are one of the most prescribed medicines in medical practice because of their proven clinical benefits, exposure to side effects and lack of efficacy result in outcomes that limit pharmacotherapy performance in some individuals. Thus, the continuous development of therapeutic alternatives is a task of great importance including the design of monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors that work by increasing neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. Medicinal plants have long been an important source of medicines and the results obtained against depression models for some plant species encourage new studies focused on the selection of natural molecules able to act as antidepressant drugs or at least as lead compounds for novel projects. Hence, we describe the chemical features of main active ingredients found in medicinal plants with antidepressant properties, including Kielmeyera coriacea, Rhodiola rosea and Banisteriopsis caapi, also comparing the properties of such natural molecules with pharmacophoric features of available MAO inhibitors drugs in order to validate promising antidepressants.KeywordsAntidepressantsMedicinal plantsDrug designPharmacophore