Research Progress on the Mechanism of Ketamine in Neuropathic Pain Comorbid Depression
Qing-Mei Li, Shuming Liu, Bangyong Qin, Xing-Feng Liu
Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment August 9, 2025 DOI: 10.2147/ndt.s534938 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Ketamine |
| Topics | Depression Esketamine Ketamine |
| Key findings | The review proposes that ketamine's antidepressant action involves disinhibition and neuroplasticity mechanisms and specific brain regions such as the hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex, and argues that integrating bioinformatics and molecular biology can clarify its therapeutic effects and mechanisms in neuropathic pain comorbid with depression. |
Abstract
Abstract This review systematically summarizes the research progress of ketamine and its interaction with specific brain regions in the context of neuropathic pain comorbid with depression. As a non-competitive inhibitor of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, Ketamine exerts complex mechanisms and controversial topic. The structure and function of NMDA receptors, as well as the binding sites of ketamine, are summarized, and the hypothesis of disinhibition and neuroplasticity of ketamine’s antidepressant effect is elaborated. The mechanism of key brain regions, such as hippocampus and anterior cingulate cortex, is discussed in detail, and the antidepressant effect of ketamine is explored from the perspective of transcriptomics. Finally, this review integrates bioinformatics, molecular biology and other interdisciplinary approaches to elucidate the therapeutic effects and potential mechanisms of ketamine in treating neuropathic pain and depression comorbidity, providing a comprehensive theoretical basis, new directions for subsequent research and novel insights for the clinical application of ketamine.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on ketamine for depression, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |
| Ketamine: a paradigm shift for depression research and treatment | 2019 | Review | |
| Rapid‐acting antidepressant ketamine, its metabolites and other candidates: A historical overview and future perspective | 2019 | Review | |
| Ketamine: A tale of two enantiomers | 2020 | Review | |
| Molecular mechanisms underlying the antidepressant actions of arketamine: beyond the NMDA receptor | 2021 | Review |