Approaches to therapy for depressions in neurology: prospects for the use of agomelatine

Abstract

This review provides information on prospects for using the antidepressant agomelatine in neurological practice. The drug has a unique receptor profile, being a melatonin receptor type 1 and 2 agonist and a serotonin receptor subtype 2C antagonist. Due to this and in addition to antidepressant action, the drug has a number of other effects, such as analgesic, anti-apathetic, anti-asthenic, procognitive, anxiolytic, and sleep-normalizing ones, which are of great importance in the treatment of neurological diseases. There are clinical and experimental data that prove the high efficiency and safety of agomelatin in the follow-up of patients with post-stroke depression, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Pick’s disease, Huntington’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, and pain syndromes.

Keywords

• agomelatine (valdoxan)
• depression
• anxiety
• pain
• cognitive impairment
• insomnia
• asthenia
• apathy
• neurology