The Nine Lives of Ketamine: From CI-581 to Present Day Clinical Application-Commentary on Domino et al.
Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics June 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1002/cpt.3634 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | First-in-human study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Human |
| Topics | Esketamine Ketamine |
| Keywords | Anesthesia Psychopharmacology Mental health Drug development |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key points | The first clinical report of ketamine (then CI-581) introduced a drug that would become a dissociative anesthetic with multiple uses, challenging classical pharmacology and drug development. |
Abstract
The classic article by Domino et al. was the first clinical report and presented the first-in-human study of what would become the drug ketamine. Ketamine has become an analgesic, anesthetic, antidepressant, and drug of misuse. It remains today the only "dissociative anesthetic". It has challenged classical pharmacologic theory and drug development paradigms. The first report on CI-581 could never have envisioned the pharmacologic complexity or clinical utility of this molecule.