Anhedonia is a condition in which the capacity to experience pleasure is totally or partially lost. Although anhedonia is a feature of major depressive disorder according to DSM IV criteria for major depression diagnosis, so far it has received relatively little attention. The scale that is most commonly used in the measurement of anhedonia is the Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS), a brief 14-item self-report questionnaire designed to measure hedonic tone and its absence. Two studies have described the efficacy of agomelatine in the treatment of anhedonia: an open-label study and a comparative trial versus the antidepressant venlafaxine XR. In both studies agomelatine significantly reduced anhedonia, as indicated using the SHAPS. This reduction was observed after the first week of treatment (P<0.05) and at different times until the end of the trial. Moreover, in the comparative trial, a significant difference between groups was observed in favor of agomelatine, after 1 (P<0.05), 2 (P<0.01), and 8 weeks (P<0.01). The possible effect of agomelatine on anhedonia may represent a novel area of interest among antidepressant agents and deserves further investigation, with larger samples and double-blind placebo-controlled designs.

中文翻译：

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快感缺失和重度抑郁症：阿戈美拉汀的作用

快感缺失是一种体验快乐的能力完全或部分丧失的状态。尽管根据 DSM IV 重度抑郁症诊断标准，快感缺失是重度抑郁症的一个特征，但迄今为止它受到的关注相对较少。测量快感缺失最常用的量表是 Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS)，这是一个简短的 14 项自我报告问卷，旨在测量快感音调及其缺失。两项研究描述了阿戈美拉汀治疗快感缺失的疗效：一项开放标签研究和一项与抗抑郁药文拉法辛 XR 的比较试验。在这两项研究中，阿戈美拉汀显着降低了快感缺失，正如使用 SHAPS 所表明的那样。在治疗的第一周后观察到这种减少（P<0. 05) 并在不同的时间直到试验结束。此外，在比较试验中，在 1 周（P<0.05）、2 周（P<0.01）和 8 周（P<0.01）后，观察到有利于阿戈美拉汀的组间差异显着。阿戈美拉汀对快感缺乏的可能影响可能代表了抗抑郁药中一个新的关注领域，值得进一步研究，具有更大的样本和双盲安慰剂对照设计。