Description:

Agomelatine is an antidepressant used to treat depression.

The brain is usually good at making sure we have enough of the chemicals we need to function properly. But depression can affect a number of brain chemicals.

These chemicals include noradrenaline, dopamine and serotonin; depression reduces levels of these brain transmitters. Depression also affects a chemical called melatonin. Reduced melatonin is linked to disturbances in our sleep patterns.

Agomelatine is the first antidepressant to increase melatonin activity directly. It does this by acting like melatonin at the target sites where melatonin works. (These are known as the melatonin receptors). By increasing melatonin activity, agomelatine also directly increases activity of noradrenaline and dopamine.