Comparison of Venlafaxine with Other Antidepressants for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder- A Narrative Review

Major depression disorder is the leading cause of disability worldwide, with the number of affected people increasing substantially during the last decades. The management of this condition is primarily focused on pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. Venlafaxine is a bicyclic phenyl phenylethylamine derivative with a robust antidepressant effect due to its mechanism of action based on presynaptic reuptake of serotonin, noradrenaline (norepinephrine) and, to a lesser extent, dopamine. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors are vastly used for the treatment of major depression. Here we collect relevant evidence from scientific literature that show that venlafaxine, probably due to its dual modulation of serotonin and noradrenaline neurotransmission interaction, is more efficacious compared to both selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and also to other dual-acting antidepressants such as desvenlafaxine.