New insights into the molecular pathophysiology and treatment of depression

Depression is a major neuropsychiatric illness affecting the quality of life in almost all age populations. Existing therapies of depression over the years have improved a lot. Electroconvulsive and interpersonal therapy also have benefited patients to a great extent. However, there is a lot of room for improvement in case of the drug therapy. In this regard, proper understanding of the molecular basis of the disease is indispensable. We tried to understand vividly the newer targets associated with Ventral tegmental area, Raphe nucleus, Locus coeruleus and other functional areas of the brain which are associated directly with the emotional behavior of an individual. In the process of reviewing, we have found 2,69,000 articles, after that we have sorted 2900 articles and lastly we have taken 95 articles as citations. The neurocortical development along with their interconnection with afferent inputs from different functional areas of the human brain is essential in this aspect. This study is a trial for a comprehensive evidence-based understanding of several contributory factors of depression. Various ion channels, receptor proteins and neuropeptides are studied for their presence and their impact on the different functional areas of the brain which are at the helm of this depressive illness. This study is an assessment to explore the newer arena of the molecular basis of depression.