Citation

Zaki NFW, Spence DW, Bahammam AS, Pandi-Perumal SR, Cardinali DP, Brown GM. Eur. Arch. Psychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 2018; 268(2): 107-118.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5T 1R8, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s00406-017-0835-5

PMID

28894915

Abstract

Major depressive disorder (MDD) remains the most prevalent mental disorder and a leading cause of disability, affecting approximately 100 million adults worldwide. The disorder is characterized by a constellation of symptoms affecting mood, anxiety, neurochemical balance, sleep patterns, and circadian and/or seasonal rhythm entrainment. However, the mechanisms underlying the association between chronobiological parameters and depression remain unknown. A PubMed search was conducted to review articles from 1979 to the present, using the following search terms: "chronobiology," "mood," "sleep," and "circadian rhythms." We aimed to synthesize the literature investigating chronobiological theories of mood disorders. Current treatments primarily include tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which are known to increase extracellular concentrations of monoamine neurotransmitters. However, these antidepressants do not treat the sleep disturbances or circadian and/or seasonal rhythm dysfunctions associated with depressive disorders. Several theories associating sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances with depression have been proposed. Current evidence supports the existence of associations between these, but the direction of causality remains elusive. Given the existence of chronobiological disturbances in depression and evidence regarding their treatment in improving depression, a chronobiological approach, including timely use of light and melatonin agonists, could complement the treatment of MDD.

Language: en

Keywords

Chronobiology; Circadian rhythm; Light environment; Major depressive disorder; Melatonin; Mood disorder