Agomelatine is the world's first melatonin receptor MT1 and MT2 agonist antidepressant. It was developed by the French company Servier and is suitable for the treatment of severe depressive episodes in adult patients. We know that melatonin is an endogenous neurohormone, which is secreted only by the anterior pituitary of the pineal gland at night, and acts on the melatonin receptors concentrated in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus. Participates in mediating the circadian rhythm of mammals. It is a well-known guardian of time in the body and corrects the biological clock regulated by the external circadian cycle. However, due to the high catabolism rate of melatonin in the body, its short half-life and poor selectivity for its receptor located in the SCN have limited its use in the treatment of circadian circadian rhythm disorders. Therefore, in order to overcome these shortcomings of melatonin, the researchers designed a series of melatonin analogs. Molecular model studies show that the indole ring of melatonin is the structural site for catabolism inactivation, so the indole ring becomes an ideal site for isosteric modification. The agomelatine developed by Servier is the naphthalen biological (electronic) isostere analogue of melatonin. It replaces the indole ring with a naphthalen nucleus, making it more metabolically stable than melatonin .

Function
Agomelatine is a new antidepressant with selective agonist actions at melatonin receptors and selective antagonist action at serotonin 5HT-2C receptors.
It does not affect the uptake of serotonin, noradrenaline or dopamine.
Agomelatine can help regulate your'body clock' (circadian rhythm) with positive benefits on mood and sleepin depression Agomelatine is used in the treatment of depression or to help prevent depression returning, and isonly available with a doctor's prescription. The symptoms of depression vary from one person toanother, but commonly include persistent sadness, loss of interest in favourite activities, feelings of worthlessness, sleep problems, feeling of being slowed down, feelings of anxiety or changes in appetite and weight. Changes in your daily sleep and appetite patterns are examples of disturbances of your body clock that occur commonly indepression.