Effects and mechanisms of esketamine on depression by targeting gut microbiota: A narrative review
New Discovery April 30, 2025 Jia-Qi Liu, Chen Zhou
Esketamine, a rapid-acting antidepressant approved by the FDA and EMA in 2019 and 2020, may work partly by modulating the gut microbiota and its metabolites. This review summarizes current research on esketamine's antidepressant effects and discusses the pharmacological mechanism involving gut microbiota regulation, a pathway also implicated in fecal microbiota transplantation's ability to alleviate depression.