Repurposing General Anesthetic Drugs to Treat Depression: A New Frontier for Anesthesiologists in Neuropsychiatric Care.
Connor T A Brenna, Benjamin I Goldstein, Carlos A. Zarate, Beverley A Orser
Anesthesiology August 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000005037 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Depression |
| Keywords | Depression treatment Anesthetics Mental health Psychiatric medicine Drug research |
| Citations | 19 |
| Key findings | Anesthetic drugs, including ketamine, nitrous oxide, propofol, and isoflurane, have demonstrated antidepressant properties, suggesting a new role for anesthesiologists in psychiatric treatment. |
Abstract
During the last 100 years, the role of anesthesiologists in psychiatry has focused primarily on facilitating electroconvulsive therapy and mitigating postoperative delirium and other perioperative neurocognitive disorders. The discovery of the rapid and sustained antidepressant properties of ketamine, and early results suggesting that other general anesthetic drugs (including nitrous oxide, propofol, and isoflurane) have antidepressant properties, has positioned anesthesiologists at a new frontier in the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. Moreover, shared interest in understanding the biologic underpinnings of anesthetic drugs as psychotropic agents is eroding traditional academic boundaries between anesthesiology and psychiatry. This article presents a brief overview of anesthetic drugs as novel antidepressants and identifies promising future candidates for the treatment of depression. The authors issue a call to action and outline strategies to foster collaborations between anesthesiologists and psychiatrists as they work toward the common goals of repurposing anesthetic drugs as antidepressants and addressing mood disorders in surgical patients.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on depression, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Synaptic Dysfunction in Depression: Potential Therapeutic Targets | 2012 | Review | |
| Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: A New Approach to Preventing Relapse | 2003 | Review | |
| Synthesizing the Evidence for Ketamine and Esketamine in Treatment-Resistant Depression: An International Expert Opinion on the Available Evidence and Implementation Adults with treatment-resistant depression | 2021 | Review | |
| Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, therapeutics, mystical experience, and brain network function. General population | 2019 | Integrative review | |
| Sudarshan Kriya Yogic Breathing in the Treatment of Stress, Anxiety, and Depression: Part II—Clinical Applications and Guidelines | 2005 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Meta-correlation of the effect of ketamine and psilocybin induced subjective effects on therapeutic outcome. npj Mental Health Research October 6, 2024
- Effects of ketamine on postoperative cognition: a scoping review. British Journal of Anaesthesia July 7, 2025
- Associations between psychedelic use and adverse outcomes in substance use disorders: a real-world EHR-based cohort study. Frontiers in Psychiatry October 24, 2025
Cites 45
- A Randomized Trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate Antagonist in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression Archives of General Psychiatry August 1, 2006
- Mechanisms of Ketamine Action as an Antidepressant Molecular Psychiatry March 13, 2018
- Ketamine and Other NMDA Antagonists: Early Clinical Trials and Possible Mechanisms in Depression American Journal of Psychiatry October 1, 2015
- Rapid Resolution of Suicidal Ideation After a Single Infusion of anN-Methyl-D-Aspartate Antagonist in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Major Depressive Disorder The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry July 13, 2010
- Taming the Ketamine Tiger Anesthesiology August 6, 2010
and 40 more in the library