Agomelatine is a selective agonist of
melatonin receptor 1A/
melatonin receptor 1B (MT1/MT2) and antagonist of
5-hydroxytryptamine 2C receptors. It is used clinically to treat major depressive episodes in adults. The pro-chronobiological activity of
agomelatine reconstructs sleep-wake rhythms and normalizes circadian disturbances via its agonistic effect of
melatonin receptor 1A/
melatonin receptor 1B, which work simultaneously to counteract depression and
anxiety disorder. Moreover, by antagonizing neocortical postsynaptic
5-hydroxytryptamine 2C receptors,
agomelatine enhances the release of
dopamine and
noradrenaline in the prefrontal cortex, increases the activity of
dopamine and
noradrenaline, and thereby reduces depression and
anxiety disorder. The combination of these two effects means that
agomelatine exhibits a unique pharmacological role in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and disturbance of the circadian rhythm. Emotion and sleep are closely related to memory and cognitive function.
Memory disorder is defined as any forms of memory abnormality, which is typically evident in a broad range of
neurodegenerative diseases, including
Alzheimer's disease. Memory impairment and
cognitive impairment are common symptoms of neurodegenerative and
psychiatric diseases. Therefore, whether
agomelatine can improve memory and cognitive behaviors if used for alleviating depression and
circadian-rhythm sleep disorders has become a research "hotspot". This review presents the latest findings on the effects of
agomelatine in the treatment of psychologic and
circadian-rhythm sleep disorders in clinical trials and animal experiments. Our review evaluates recent studies on treatment of memory impairment and
cognitive impairment in neurodegenerative and
psychiatric diseases.