Neuropsychopharmacology in Mood Disorders

Dear Colleagues,

Despite the detrimental effect of mood disorders including major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD), a large proportion of patients with mood disorder still do not experience sufficient treatment response. Countless novel therapeutic agents were developed for the treatment of MDD and BD. However, the monoamine hypothesis remains one of the most important neurobiologies of MDD, and drugs targeting their transporters and receptors are still considered first-line therapy. Likewise, lithium, “an oldie but a goodie”, is still the most effective pharmacological agent for BD, but its exact mechanism of action has not yet been elucidated. From the other perspective, the recent approval of esketamine has opened a new door for the treatment of MDD. By targeting NMDA receptors rather than monoamine transporters/receptors, esketamine not only showed efficacy in the patients with treatment-resistant MDD, but it also has proven rapid antidepressant effect and overcame the therapeutic lag observed in previous antidepressants. Recent studies repeatedly showed the importance of neuroplasticity and neuroinflammation in the pathophysiology of BD and MDD. With the rise of biomarkers, multiple studies are conducted for enhanced stratification and treatment monitoring in patients with mood disorders. The present edition aims to highlight the research, developmental, and clinical trend of neuropsychopharmacology in mood disorders. Readers will also be given insight into the prospect of neuropsychopharmacology in mood disorders by understanding its past.

Dr. Sheng-Min Wang
Guest Editor

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