Desmethylsertraline

Desmethylsertraline (DMS), also known as norsertraline, is an active metabolite of the antidepressant drug sertraline. Like sertraline, desmethylsertraline acts as a monoamine reuptake inhibitor, and may be responsible for some of its parent's therapeutic benefits. However, DMS is significantly less potent relative to sertraline as a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (K_i = 76 nM vs. 3 nM, respectively), but conversely, is more balanced as a monoamine reuptake inhibitor (5-HT (K_i) = 76 nM; NE (K_i) = 420 nM; DA (K_i) = 440 nM), which has the effective result of DMS contrarily behaving as a serotonin-norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor (SNDRI), with about 5.5-fold preference for inhibiting serotonin reuptake relative to catecholamine reuptake.

Dasotraline, a stereoisomer of DMS, is also an SNDRI, and has been investigated for the potential clinical treatment of major depressive disorder, attention-deficit disorder, and eating disorders, but has not been approved or marketed for any indication.