Experts have told what the weak link of conventional antidepressants is

It is known that antidepressants start to work not so fast - sometimes it takes weeks or months to feel the effect from that. Finally, the experts of University of Illinois understood why this treatment takes so long, said The Daily Mail. Naturally, serotonin reuptake inhibitors are prescribed for depression. They work by preventing the reabsorption of serotonin.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, which has a positive effect on a mood, an emotional background and a sleep. Since serotonin has transmitted a message to cells, it is usually absorbed by neurons. But the blocking of this process allows more serotonin to transmit messages between neighboring nerve cells. At that, the drugs are often accumulated in the cell membrane (zones of so-called lipid rafts).

Once the agent occurs in rafts, the level of an important signaling molecule - G-protein is decreased. In depression, G-proteins lose the access to cAMP molecule. But they need it for work and for transmission of serotonin signals. Observations have shown that, the level of G-proteins is decreased due to increasing accumulation of drugs in the rafts. For this reason antidepressants do not start work immediately, but they are attached to their target object immediately.

Source: MADdaily