L'AGOMÉLATINE : UNE NOUVELLE STRATÉGIE DE THÉRAPIE NEUROPHARMACOLOGIQUE EFFICACE DES TROUBLES DÉPRESSIFS ? UNE REVUE DE LA LITTÉRATURE CLINIQUE RÉCENTE.

MOOD DISORDERS AND MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER (MDD) IN PARTICULAR REMAIN HEAVY BURDENS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH POLICIES IN GENERAL. HENCE, THERE IS AN ONGOING NEED FOR EFFICIENT AND INVENTIVE TREATMENT STRATEGIES WITHIN DAILY CLINICAL PSYCHIATRIC PRACTICE. AGOMELATINE PROPOSES SUCH A NOVEL MECHANISM OF ACTION WHICH IS NOT BASED ON MONOAMINERGIC REUPTAKE INHIBITION LIKE MOST COMMONLY USED ANTIDEPRESSANTS. THE PRESENT REVIEW SUMMARIZES RECENT CLINICAL LITERATURE, WHICH INVESTIGATED DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF DEPRESSION TREATMENT, BY MEANS OF CONSECUTIVE CONSIDERATIONS OF GLOBAL CLINICAL EFFICACY, ON KEY SYMPTOMS (ANHEDONIA, DYSSOMNIAS, CIRCADIAN DYSREGULATIONS, COGNITIVE EMOTION PROCESSING), IN DIFFERENT GROUPS OF PATIENTS AND ALSO REPORTED TOLERANCE PROFILE. UPON THE BASIS OF RECENTLY PUBLISHED CLINICAL DATA, WE CAN INDEED UNDERLINE THAT AGOMELATINE HAS SHOWN TO BE A CLINICALLY EFFICIENT ANTIDEPRESSANT TREATMENT IN MDD IN GENERAL BUT ALSO IN PATIENTS WITH SEVERE SYMPTOMS AND IN ELDERLY PATIENTS. AGOMELATINE REPEATEDLY SHOWED AT LEAST A NON-INFERIOR EFFICACY BUT ALSO A GREATER IMPROVEMENT OF KEY SYMPTOMS IN CERTAIN STUDIES, IN COMPARISON WITH ANTIDEPRESSANTS CONSIDERED AS BEING OF "SUPERIOR EFFICACY". THOSE STUDIES SHOWED A GREATER IMPROVEMENT OF KEY SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION WITH AGOMELATINE AS ANHEDONIA OR SLEEP DISORDERS, WHILE PRESENTING A FAVORABLE REPORTED TOLERANCE PROFILE, TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THAT LIVER FUNCTION MUST BE MONITORED DURING TREATMENT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]