Abortion drug could treat depression

A hormone treatment used to induce abortion could provide a rapid-acting treatment for depression, it was claimed at a European conference on neuroscience on 9 July.

The drug, called RU486, was one of two new rapid treatment strategies revealed at the Federation of European Neurosciences Society’s Annual Forum in Vienna, Austria. Most antidepressants are thought to work by raising levels of the signalling chemical serotonin, which acts in the brain. But these drugs can take several weeks to take effect. The new treatments could be effective within days or even hours.

The hormone treatment is based on earlier findings that stress plays a major part in triggering and prolonging depression. Stress hormones appear to damage a part of the brain called the hippocampus. The region is susceptible because it is particularly rich in hormone receptors, allowing it to regulate ongoing hormone release. In experiments on rats, Paul Lucassen from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands discovered that stress hormones seemed to be interfering with the birth of new neurons in the region.

As an alternative to existing antidepressants, Lucassen and his team were keen to find ways to halt the stress response directly. Using a high dose of RU486, which blocks the stress hormone receptors, they were able to maintain normal neuron counts in rats. ‘It points to a rescue effect on survival of these cells,’ says Lucassen.

The drug is already used for severe psychotic depression, and is licensed for use to treat several conditions, including Cushing’s disease, and to induce abortion because it also acts on progesterone receptors.

Abortion drug could rapidly treat depression, New Scientist, 10 July 2006. Hopes for new rapid reaction treatment for depression, Press release, 9 July 5th Forum of European Neuroscience.