Experience with agomelatine therapy for non-psychotic depression with a single and recurrent course

Therapy of depression is a current problem in psychiatry. Agomelatine is not inferior to other modern drugs in terms of antidepressant efficacy (response and remission rates) and is characterized by the best tolerability.

Objective: to evaluate the efficacy and safety of agomelatine in the treatment of nonpsychotic depression with a single and recurrent course.

Material and methods. Patients (n=37) with a current depressive episode (DE; F32 according to ICD-10), mean age 41.2±2.07 years, were studied. Clinical psychopathological and psychometric methods were used in the study (Hamilton Hospital Depression Scale – HAMD-17; Spielberger–Khanin Anxiety Self-Assessment Scale, Sheehan Anxiety Scale, Clinical Global Impression Scale – CGI-I). A single DE was diagnosed in 62.2% of patients, and recurrent depressive disorder in 37.8%. Stress-related onset of current DE was found in 56.8% of cases, autochthonous in 43.2%.

Results. 94.6% of patients were responders, including 68.6% who went into remission. A statistically significant decrease in scores on the HAMD-17 scale was noted in the remission group from the 7^th day of agomelatine therapy (p<0.05), in the responder group – from the 14^th day of therapy (p<0.05). According to the Sheehan scale, a statistically significant decrease in scores was noted at the end of the first week of therapy (p<0.05), according to the Spielberger–Khanin scale – in the second week (p<0.05) in all patients. According to the CGI-I scale, the condition at the end of therapy improved in 57.1% of patients, significantly in 42.9%. Clinical predictors of therapeutic response in patients with remission included significantly higher frequency of a single DE (p<0.02), moderate severity of current depression (p<0.02), dizziness among autonomic disorders (p<0.01), a significantly lower representation of the melancholic type of depression (p<0.05), a symptom of a gloomy and pessimistic vision of the future (p<0.05), sleep disturbances (p<0.04), a factor of personal significance in the form of a threat in patients with stress-provoked onset of the current DE (p<0.05).

Adverse events occurred in the first week of treatment with agomelatine in 14.3% of cases (nausea – 8.6%, headache and dizziness – 2.9% each), they were mild and did not require discontinuation of the drug. Two patients taking agomelatine at a dose of 50 mg discontinued the study: in one case persisted social phobia, increased fatigue, motor retardation, and persistent modern insomnia; in the other case – a pronounced senestoalgic syndrome with cerebral localization.

Conclusion. Agomelatine therapy has been shown to be highly effective and well tolerated in nonpsychotic depression.

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