Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment
August 1, 2025
Reinhard Janssen-Aguilar, Shakila Meshkat, Ilya Demchenko et al.
12 citations
Ketamine may offer short-term benefits for treating substance use disorders, including alcohol, cocaine, opioid, and cannabis use disorders. In alcohol use disorder, it reduced withdrawal symptoms and the need for benzodiazepines. For cocaine use disorder, it decreased craving and increased abstinence rates. In opioid use disorder, high-dose ketamine combined with psychotherapy improved abstinence and reduced craving. For cannabis use disorder, it reduced weekly use and increased confidence in abstinence. However, the evidence is limited by small sample sizes and a lack of randomized trials. Larger, well-controlled studies are needed to determine optimal dosing, mechanisms, long-term efficacy, and risks before broader clinical use can be recommended.
PLoS One
January 17, 2025
Shakila Meshkat, Wendy Lou, Rakesh Jetly et al.
10 citations
A new pilot study will test whether a single 25 mg dose of psilocybin combined with one week of massed cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is feasible, tolerable, and effective for chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which affects 3.9% of the general population. Fifteen participants with chronic PTSD will receive 12 CPT sessions, two psilocybin-related psychotherapy sessions, and one dosing session over 7 days. Feasibility and tolerability will be measured by recruitment, withdrawal, data completion, adherence, and adverse events. Preliminary efficacy will assess reductions in PTSD severity and explore mechanisms of change, with 12 weeks of follow-up and wearable device data. Results will guide a future large-scale randomized trial.
Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology
August 11, 2025
Reinhard Janssen-Aguilar, Shakila Meshkat, Huda Al-Shamali et al.
4 citations
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe condition that can be difficult to treat, prompting interest in innovative therapies. This systematic review of 94 studies evaluated interventional treatments including neuromodulation, rapid-acting pharmacotherapies like intravenous ketamine and esketamine, and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies. Randomized controlled trials showed response rates ranging from 12.5% to 80% for transcranial magnetic stimulation, 17% to 67% for intravenous ketamine, and 50% to 87% for MDMA-assisted therapy. Most treatments were well tolerated with only mild, transient adverse effects. The review highlights variability in efficacy, safety, and tolerability across treatments, reflecting differences in patient populations, protocols, and comorbidities. While symptom improvement is observed, sustained efficacy varies, underscoring the need for maintenance strategies.
Journal of Affective Disorders
January 23, 2026
Reinhard Janssen-Aguilar, Jithin Joseph, Huda Al-Shamali et al.
In a retrospective chart review of 209 adults with treatment-resistant depression treated with intravenous ketamine, depressive and anxiety symptoms improved significantly over four or six infusions, but the improvements were modest and highly variable across individuals. Anxiety symptoms improved more slowly and less robustly than depressive symptoms. End-of-treatment response and remission rates were numerically higher after six infusions than after four, but the difference was not statistically significant. Four distinct patterns of symptom change emerged for both depression and anxiety, highlighting the heterogeneity of treatment response. Durability after six infusions could not be assessed because follow-up data were available only for the four-infusion group.