Question

How do anti-depressants such as Fluoxetine, Citalopram and Sertraline work at the receptor level? Why do scientists think there must be additional important “downstream” consequences that underlie the therapeutic effect of these drugs?

Answer 1

Fluoxetine, Citalopram and Sertraline are selctive serotonin reuptake inhibitor gbat are used as antidepressants.
These drugs act on presynaptic cells and limit the reabsorption of serotonin back into the presynaptic neuron. This results in increased availability of the serotonin in synaptic cleft and cause increased binding of post synaptic receptor to serotonin. This increases the neurotransmission rate.
The downstream effect include include increased norepinephrine output, increased neuronal cyclic AMP levels, and increased levels of regulatory factors