MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER (MDD), ANTIDEPRESSANT AND OBESITY.

*Niraj Khatri Sapkota and Kailash Chandra Swain

ABSTRACT

Both Major depressive disorder (MDD) and obesity are common heterogeneous disorders with complex pathophysiology that have a major impact on public health, rising obesity rates have significant alarming health consequences. Despite the concomitant rise of antidepressant use and increased rates of obesity in the world especially in Western societies, the precise association & mechanism between the two underlying antidepressant-induced weight gain resulting in obesity still remained unclear. The Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis activation occurs in the state of severe acute/ chronic stress leading to development of MDD & concurrently, the HPA axis also becomes deranged/ nonregulated in obesity attributing to share common pathophysiological pathway. In this review, we attempt to explore the complex relationships among antidepressants, MDD and obesity because several clinical studies have documented that obesity may increase the risk of developing MDD and vice versa.

Keywords: Major depressive disorder, Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal.