Meta-analysis of Clinical Efficacy of Commonly Used Therapeutic Drugs for Depression

The incidence of depression has been on a continuous rise, which emerges as a major mental illness of concern in the global public health domain. As a primary intervention for moderate to severe depression, pharmacological treatment holds significant importance. Currently, commonly used clinical antidepressants include SSRIs, SNRIs and NaSSAs. However, notable differences exist among these drugs in terms of efficacy, safety, onset time, and patient compliance. How to scientifically select and optimize treatment regimens has thus become a key challenge in clinical practice. In recent years, evidence-based medical approaches like meta-analyses have been widely applied. Network meta-analysis enables indirect comparisons of different antidepressants by integrating data from multiple randomized controlled trials, which provides more comprehensive evidence for clinical medication choices. This article provides a review of depressions pathological mechanisms, which include neural plasticity impairment, neurotrophic factor deficiency, the monoamine hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis axis dysfunction, and the monoamine neurotransmitter hypothesis. It also examines the efficacy, safety, and related research progress of three main classes of antidepressants such as SSRIs, SNRIs, and NaSSAs, to provide references for clinical medication selection.