The research was carried out using rats to find out if there is any relationship between venlafaxine and escitalopram treatments with NMDAR in the brain. The level of NMDAR was reduced in rats injected with depression. Venlafaxine treatment on rats administered with depression was found to prevent the reduction of NMDAR however there was no relationship between the escitalopram and the NMDAR. There is an increase in hippocampus functions when Venlafaxine treatment is administered.
Venlafaxine’s effect on the brain may be due to interactions between the noradrenergic and serotoninergic systems. Alzheimer’s patients have a substantially lower level of serotonergic in their brains. Venlafaxine causes the reduction in the non-adrenaline release to be reversed by the activation of excitatory receptors in the brain.
An overdose of Venlafaxine is dangerous as it is toxic to the cognitive functions of the brain. There are reactive oxygen species that can affect the expression of the NR2B cells. Venlafaxine treatment protects the NR2B from lipid peroxidation (Yilmaz, Demirdas, Sutcu, Kirbas, Cure & Eren, 2011).
References
Yilmaz, N. Demirdas, A., Yilmaz, M., Sutcu, R., Kirbas, A., Cure, M. & Eren, I. (2011) Effects of Venlafaxine and Escitalopram Treatments on NMDA Receptors in the Rat Depression Model. J Membrane Biol, 242:145–151.