The new medication may one day replace tranquilizers like Valium, calming patients, without sedating them. A drug that targets CRF receptors might be used to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, for which there is now no specific medication at all. It might also be useful for treating anxiety symptoms associated with depression and for panic disorder. Neuropeptides like beta-endorphin are among the many neurotransmitters that regulate emotion. Neurogen is also testing a drug that would treat depression through acting on Neuropeptide Y, which helps regulate norepinephrine.
Some antidepressants work by blocking the reuptake of norepinephrine.
Merck is testing compounds for treating depression that target a specific serotonin-2 receptor that is thought to have a role in psychotic hallucinations.