Cyclodextrins improving the physicochemical and pharmacological properties of antidepressant drugs: a patent review

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Depression is a serious mood disorder and is one of the most common mental illnesses. Despite the availability of several classes of antidepressants, a substantial percentage of patients are unresponsive to these drugs, which have a slow onset of action in addition to producing undesirable side effects. Some scientific evidence suggests that cyclodextrins (CDs) can improve the physicochemical and pharmacological profile of antidepressant drugs (ADDs). The purpose of this paper is to disclose current data technology prospects involving antidepressant drugs and cyclodextrins.

Areas covered: We conducted a patent review to evaluate the antidepressive activity of the compounds complexed in CDs, and we analyzed whether these complexes improved their physicochemical properties and pharmacological action. The present review used 8 specialized patent databases for patent research, using the term ‘cyclodextrin’ combined with ‘antidepressive agents’ and its related terms. We found 608 patents. In the end, considering the inclusion criteria, 27 patents reporting the benefits of complexation of ADDs with CDs were included.

Expert opinion: The use of CDs can be considered an important tool for the optimization of physicochemical and pharmacological properties of ADDs, such as stability, solubility and bioavailability.

KEYWORDS:

• Antidepressant drugs
• cyclodextrin
• depression
• patent review

Article highlights

• Depression is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders and is associated with general disability and increased mortality.

• Antidepressant use has increased over the past decade in the worldwide. However, there are side effects that may limit their use and there is delayed onset of action.

• Studies have demonstrated that CD-complexed drugs could provide benefits when compared with the drug alone.

• The use of cyclodextrins is a useful tool to enhance the pharmacological and physicochemical effect of drugs such as antidepressants.

• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) were the drugs most commonly used for complexation, most likely due to their ample prescription.

This box summarizes key points contained in the article.

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the CAPES/Brazil and State University of Feira de Santana (UEFS).

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.