Keywords
Depression
Depressive disorder
Treatment-resistant
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Abstract
Objective: To analyze the repercussions of glutamatergic metabolites in depression, elucidating the relationship between glutamate levels and the symptomatology presented by patients. Methods: An integrative literature review was carried out for previous works on the PubMed platforms and the Virtual Health Library using the descriptors “glutamic acid” and “depression”, combined with the Boolean operator “AND.” Articles published between 2017 and 2025 were selected, including clinical studies, clinical trials, comparative studies, controlled clinical trials, observational studies, and randomized controlled trials. Studies with unavailable full texts, duplicate articles, works unrelated to the research objectives, and animal studies were excluded. The final sample consisted of 24 articles. Results: The analyzed studies showed that there is no definitive consensus on the role of glutamatergic metabolites in depression, although several studies report clinical improvement associated with modulation of glutamate levels. The glutamatergic pathway emerges as a potential therapeutic target, especially in cases of treatment-resistant depressive disorders. Conclusion: Further investigation of the glutamatergic pathway is relevant to consolidate therapeutic alternatives, contributing to clinical support for patients affected by depression, aiming to improve quality of life and therapeutic efficacy.
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