Could agomelatine be the ideal antidepressant?
by
Pandi-Perumal SR, Srinivasan V, Cardinali DP, Monti MJ.
Comprehensive Center for Sleep Medicine,
Division of Pulmonary,
Critical Care and Sleep Medicine,
Mount Sinai School of Medicine,
1176 5 Avenue, 6 Floor, Box 1232,
New York, NY 10029, USA.
pandiperumal@gmail.com.
Expert Rev Neurother. 2006 Nov;6(11):1595-608.

ABSTRACT

Depressive disorders are a common cause of chronic and recurrent psychiatric dysfunction, constituting the fourth leading cause of global diseases. Depression is associated with a high rate of morbidity and mortality, and is a leading cause of global disability. Despite the effectiveness of most currently available antidepressants, many of them have a number of undesirable side effects. Agomelatine is the first melatonin (MT)(1)/MT(2) agonist having 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)(2C) and 5-HT(2B) antagonist properties and antidepressant activity. Agomelatine is effective in several animal models of depression and anxiety. In addition, three large, multicenter, multinational, placebo-controlled studies and several double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of agomelatine have demonstrated that it is a clinically effective and well-tolerated antidepressant in acute trials. Since currently available antidepressants are not always adequate to cause complete remission of symptoms in severely depressed patients, the superior rate of response achieved with agomelatine in this group of patients underlines its future for clinical use in depressive disorders. In summary, the clinical advantage of agomelatine is attributed to its novel mechanism of action, which helps not only to exert antidepressant action, but also to regulate the sleep-wake rhythm.

Agomelatine
Agomelatine: structure
Agomelatine, stress and memory
New antidepressants: agomelatine
Agomelatine (Valdoxan) and melatonergic drugs
Agomelatine (Valdoxan): efficacy and tolerance profile
Agomelatine, 5-HT2c antagonist and melatonin agonist
Agomelatine in the treatment of seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
Agomelatine (Valdoxan, Melitor, Thymanax) to treat major depression
Agomelatine (Valdoxan) and the serotonin 5-HT2b and 5-HT2c receptors
Pathophysiology of depression: Role of sleep and the melatonergic system
Jet lag: therapeutic use of melatonin and possible application of melatonin analogs

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