REVIEW ARTICLE Rediscovering Trazodone for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder

The Author(s) 2012. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract Trazodone is a triazolopyridine derivative that belongs to the class of serotonin receptor antagonists and reuptake inhibitors (SARIs). The drug is approved and marketed in several countries worldwide for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in adult patients. In clinical studies, trazodone has demonstrated comparable antidepressant activity to other drug classes, including tri-cyclic antidepressants (TCAs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin–noradrenaline (norepi-nephrine) reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). Moreover, the SARI action of trazodone may overcome the tolerability issues that are often associated with second-generation antide-pressants such as SSRIs (i.e. insomnia, anxiety and sexual dysfunction). Recent focus has been placed on the devel