Development of new antidepressants

The development of the first effective antidepressants in the late 1950s marked a turning point in the treatment of depressive illness. In 1957 the monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) iproniazid was discovered by chance, while searching for new antituberculous drugs. One year later the tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) imipramine was introduced, having been developed originally as an antipsychotic. A number of other drugs were subsequently added to these two groups of antidepressants, which dominated the field for the next three decades. In the 1970s and 1980s some new antidepressant drugs such as mianserin, zimeldine, nomifensine, maprotiline and trazodone were introduced. How ever, it was the antidepressants developed in the late 1980s and the 1990s, more specifically the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs),which seriously threatened the position of the TCAs as the first-choice drugs in the treatment of depression.