Design Synthesis and Pharmacological Screening of Potential 5 HT3 Receptor Antagonists for Comorbid Disorders Like Depression and Anxiety

Abstract

Depression and anxiety are highly debilitating and commonly occuring psychiatric disorders. Depression affects 340 million people globally with lifetime prevalance of 21% and anxiety affects approximately 1/8 of the total population worldwide. World Health Organization has predicted that depression would be the second largest burdensome disorder of society by the year 2020 only behind ischemic heart disease. Studies have indicated that depression and anxiety are highly co-morbid conditions.Individuals suffering from both depression and anxiety disorders concurrently have generally shown greater levels of functional impairment, reduced quality of life and poorer treatment outcomes as compared to individuals suffering from only one disease. Despite the availability of a number of anti-depressant as well as anxiolytic agents, prevalence of these diseases still persists.Studies have indicated that depression and anxiety disorders might be associated with an alteration or dysfunction of the serotonergic system in the CNS. Thus, modulation of the serotonergic system through 5-HT3 receptor may be implicated as a promising mechanism for anti-depressant and anxiolytic action.Hence, in the present study attempts were focused on developing novel 5-HT3 receptor antagonists which would be beneficial in treating co-morbid disorders like depression and anxiety.