Modulators of the Glutamatergic System: Implications for the Development of Improved Therapeutics in Mood Disorders

Mood disorders have traditionally been conceptualized as neurochemical disorders, but there is now evidence from a variety of sources demonstrating regional reductions in central nervous system volume as well as reductions in the numbers and/or sizes of glia and neurons in discrete brain areas. Although the precise cellular mechanisms underlying these morphometric changes remain to be fully elucidated, the data suggest that severe mood disorders are associated with impairments of structural plasticity and cellular resilience. One neurotransmitter system implicated in regulating neuronal plasticity and cellular resilience in a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders is the glutamatergic system. Recent preclinical…