Modern Concept of Depression Pathogenesis: The Contribution of I.P. Lapin's Research Team.

Abstract

Background: The advent of neuroleptics and antidepressant therapy marked a significant step forward in clinical psychiatry. Numerous experiments worldwide had been dedicated to a search for the potential neurobiological mechanisms underlying the potency of new psychopharmacological drugs. The first laboratory of psychopharmacology in the USSR was established in 1960 at the Leningrad Psychoneurological Institute. It was headed by Professor Izyaslav Petrovich Lapin. The foundational article by Lapin I.P. and Oksenkrug G.F. (The Lancet, 1969) continues to be cited 55 years after its publication, which determines the interest in the role of this research team in shaping temporal concepts of the pathogenesis of depression and the development of psychopharmacology.

Aim: To analyze the contribution of Lapin I.P. and his research team to the development of experimental approaches for studying the mechanisms of depression.

Methods: We analyzed the articles and monographs authored by Professor Lapin I.P., both individually and in coauthorship, available in PubMed, Google Scholar, eLIBRARY.RU, and in the bibliographic collection of the V.M. Bekhterev National Medical Research Centre for Psychiatry and Neurology.

Results: This analysis highlights the significance of Lapin I.P. and his scientific team's work in advancing our understanding of serotonin role in the mechanisms of depression and in the development of animal depression models. The scientific contribution of this team is an important milestone towards future research into the neurobiological mechanisms underlying depression, as well as the development of therapeutic approaches.

Conclusion: Lapin's scientific publications and the work of his team in the field of psychopharmacology have had a significant impact on the development of neuroscience and continue to be of unquestionable importance in advancing scientific practice more than 50 years later.