Abstract

COMPARATIVE REVIEW OF A NOVEL MELATONERGIC ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUG- AGOMELATINE

Noel M Isaac*, Dr. Vineetha Bharathan Menon, Mini Johnson Christudas, Krishna Undela, Dr. Dushad Ram

Abstract

Depression significantly affects patients and their families. Thus, there is need for more effective and well tolerated antidepressants to treat this condition. Agomelatine is a novel antidepressant that works on melatonergic and serotonin receptors. Published studies claim it is a useful alternative pharmacological strategy to the existing antidepressant drugs while unpublished studies prefer the older antidepressants as safer option. This review aims to elucidate current evidences on safety and efficacy of agomelatine and also tries comparing it with other antidepressant drug classes existing in the market.

Keywords: Agomelatine, Antidepressants, Major depressive disorder, Melatonin, Serotonin.