Galanine (1-15) and Fluoxetine in the Treatment of Refractory Depression

Depression is a disease that more than 200 million people suffer from today and its incidence is increasing, affecting more than twice as many cases in women as in men in all age groups and without distinction of place. Currently, although new types of drugs are being developed, classic antidepressants such as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are still used as first-choice drugs due to their adherence rates and lower side effects. Unfortunately, the available drug treatments have not been shown to be very effective, with almost 50% of patients presenting with what is called treatment-resistant depression. In this invention, an augmentation strategy has been tested based on the pharmacological combination of an SSRI, Fluoxetine, with the N-terminal fragment of Galanin, an endogenous peptide present in the central nervous system and which has the ability to interact with the serotonergic system in a way that enhances the effects of antidepressants in animal models of resistant depression.