CIRCADIAN RHYTMICITY AND DEPRESSION
Abstract
BACKGROUND Depression is the most common psychiatric syndrome treated on the primary level. Abnormal patterns of circadian rhythms are associated with a large variety of affective disorders including depression. Sleep disruption is one of the major symptoms in depression,with majority of patients with major depression reporting difficulties with their sleep. Inhumans, the »biological clock« is the site of generation of entrainment of circadian rhythms.It is located in the suprachiasmatic nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus and is functionally interconnected with the melatonergic system. Melatonergic receptors type 1 and 2participate in the regulation of the suprachiasmatic nucleus activity. When stimulated,receptors type 1 mediate the amplitude of the suprachiasmatic nucleus activity while receptors type 2 control phase shifting of the same activity. On the neurobiological level, depression is complex mood disorder that is also associated with the functional impairment ofseveral central nervous systems including noradrenergic, serotonergic and dopaminergictransmitters and several hormonal systems. CONCLUSIONS There is a grooving evidence that dysfunction in circadian rhythm regulation andmelatonergic system function is involved in depression pathogenesis. It is known thatclinically used antidepressants have influence on melatonergic system, probably throughchanged ratio between melatonergic type 1 and 2 receptors. With the clinical use of newcompounds like agomelatine that directly regulates melatonergic system new opportunities in depression treatment emergedDownloads
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