RT Journal Article
T1 Role of serendipity in the discovery of classical antidepressant drugs: Applying operational criteria and patterns of discovery
A1 López-Muñoz, Francisco
A1 Ocón, Pilar D’
A1 Romero Martínez, Manuel Alejandro
A1 Guerra Guirao, José Antonio
A1 Álamo, Cecilio
AB The role played by serendipity in the origin of modern psychopharmacology has proven to be controversial in scientific literature. In its original meaning (Walpole), serendipity refers to discoveries made through a combination of accidents and sagacity. We have implemented an operational definition of serendipity based on finding something unexpected or unintended, regardless of the systematic process that led to the accidental observation, and we have established four different patterns of serendipitous attributability. In this paper, we have analyzed the role of serendipity in the discovery and development of classical antidepressant drugs, tricyclic antidepressants and monoamine oxidase inhibitors as well as heterocyclic, “atypical” or “second generation” antidepressants. The discovery of the antidepressant properties of imipramine and iproniazid, the prototypes of tricyclic antidepressants and monoamine oxidase inhibitors, respectively, fits the mixed type II pattern; initial serendipitous discoveries (imipramine was an antipsychotic and iproniazid was an anti-tuberculosis agent) led secondarily to non-serendipitous discoveries. But the other components of these two families of drugs were developed specifically as antidepressants, modifying the chemical structure of the series leaders, thereby allowing all of them to be included in the type IV pattern, characterized by the complete absence of serendipity. Among the heterocyclic drugs, mianserin (originally developed as an antihistamine) also falls into the type II pattern.
PB Baishideng Publishing Group
SN 2220-3206
YR 2022
FD 2022-04-19
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/93412
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/93412
LA eng
NO López-Muñoz F, D’Ocón P, Romero A, Guerra JA, Álamo C. Role of serendipity in the discovery of classical antidepressant drugs: Applying operational criteria and patterns of discovery. WJP 2022;12:588–602. https://doi.org/10.5498/wjp.v12.i4.588.
DS Docta Complutense
RD 11 abr 2025