This study on animal cell cultures demonstrates that mood stabilizers affect different pathways. Can this help guide practice?
Lamotrigine and carbamazepine are used as mood stabilizers, but their mechanism of action has been little examined, unlike lithium and valproate which appear to have their effects through their neurotrophic and neuroprotective properties. These researchers used rat hippocampal cell cultures to determine the effects of all four of these drugs on dendritic outgrowth, neuroprotection, and the expression of synaptic proteins (such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF]).
Hippocampal dendritic outgrowth increased with all drugs. However, the three signaling pathways studied were active for lithium and valproate but not for carbamazepine and lamotrigine. For example, protein kinase A signaling, which is involved in the regulation of cAMP-resp…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)