Moclobemide May Help Depression and Post-Partum Blues
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAO-Is) are a type of antidepressant that is often effective for people with anxious depression or comorbid panic attacks, especially when other antidepressants don’t work. This may be because MAO-Is work on all three neurotransmitter systems implicated in depression: dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin.
In a recent study presented at the 65th Annual Scientific Convention of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, Julia Sacher et al. found that six weeks of therapeutic doses of the MAO-I moclobemide (at doses of 300 mg twice a day) significantly decreased monoamine oxidase A, as measured by PET scans in brain regions implicated in mood disorders. In a comparison of moclobemide, placebo, and the herbal preparation St. John’s Wort, only moclobemide had a significant effect. Read more
