Grant: Operating Grant

Depression affects 20% of the population and women are more likely to be depressed than men particularly throughout the reproductive years. Hormones, such as testosterone in men and estradiol in women, are related to antidepressant efficacy and fluctuating levels of hormones affect susceptibility to develop depression. For example, lower levels of testosterone in men are associated with a greater risk to develop depression, while lower levels of estradiol in women is associated with a poorer antidepressant response. However, very little research has been done to examine how hormones in men and women affect the ability of antidepressants to work to alleviate symptoms of depression. It is not known how antidepressants work to achieve their effects on depression because these drugs work on brain chemicals within hours of being taken but alleviation from symptoms of depression is not seen until weeks after treatment. We will examine the role of different types of antidepressants achieve their therapeutic effects in low testosterone/estradiol or high testosterone/estradiol males and females. We will also examine whether the ability of these antidepressants to change the brains ability to adapt is responsible for their antidepressant effects (and whether this depends on hormone level). We hope that these studies will bring us closer to understanding the mechanisms of how antidepressants exert their effects to alleviate depression in both men and women.