Antidepressant Drugs, Biological Clocks, and Cancer: Is There a Relation?

Abstract

Depressive disorders are associated with abnormalities in circadian rhythms, leading to disruptions in the sleep cycle, mood, and hormonal levels. However, damage to the circadian rhythm increases the risk of some health problems and is considered a factor in triggering depression. Examining this situation plays an important role in understanding the causes of depression in living things. In conclusion, molecular biology needs to investigate the effects of antidepressants used in the treatment of depression on the biological clock. Despite this close relationship between depression and the biological clock, the lack of studies at the molecular level makes it difficult to understand the molecular mechanism of antidepressants on the biological clock. On the other hand, some disorders such as panic and depression, which often accompany cancer patients, make it necessary to use antidepressant derivatives in addition to the use of chemotherapy drugs in these patients. Therefore, the effects of antidepressant drugs on cancer cells are extremely interesting. Some studies have reported that antidepressant drugs cause loss of function and apoptosis in cancer cells. This review was conducted to analyze the molecular connection of the biological clock with paroxetine in cancer cells and to include the effect of antidepressant drugs in the relationship between cancer and the biological clock.

Cite this article as: Kılıç N, Erbaş O. Antidepressant Drugs, Biological Clocks, and Cancer: Is There a Relation. JEB Med Sci 2021;2(3):298-301.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.