Another Antidepressant Fails in Bipolar Depression
Despite repeated studies, including meta-analyses, showing that antidepressants that work in unipolar depression do not work in bipolar depression as adjuncts to mood stabilizers, antidepressants remain widely used for the treatment of bipolar depression. A recent study of the antidepressant agomelatine has shown that it is not effective in bipolar depression. In patients taking lithium or valproate but still depressed, agomelatine was no better than placebo at reducing depression.
Agomelatine has an unusual mechanism of action (blockade of 5HT-2C receptors and activation of melatonin M1 and M2 receptors) that helps normalize sleep and circadian rhythms, but only in unipolar depression. Until this study by Lakshmi Yatham and colleagues in the British Journal of Psychiatry, it was thought that these properties would make the drug ideal for bipolar depression.
Three atypical antipsychotics are have been approved by the Federal Drug Administration for bipolar depression: quetiapine (Seroquel), lurasidone (Latuda), and the olanzepine-fluoxetine combination Symbyax. These, used alongside mood stabilizers (lithium, valproate, carbamazepine, and lamotrigine) are more effective treatments for bipolar depression. There are other adjunctive treatments that may be helpful, such as the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine, vitamin D3, and folate.
