The Nine Lives of Ketamine: From CI-581 to Present Day Clinical Application-Commentary on Domino et al.
Evan D Kharasch
Clinical Pharmacology & 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.
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
Cites 9
- A Randomized Trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate Antagonist in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression Archives of General Psychiatry August 1, 2006
- The dissociative anaesthetics, ketamine and phencyclidine, selectively reduce excitation of central mammalian neurones by N‐methyl‐aspartate British Journal of Pharmacology June 1, 1983
- Taming the Ketamine Tiger Anesthesiology August 6, 2010
- Ketamine: 50 Years of Modulating the Mind Frontiers in Human Neuroscience November 29, 2016
- Ketamine and rapid antidepressant action: new treatments and novel synaptic signaling mechanisms Neuropsychopharmacology July 24, 2023
and 4 more in the library