Antidepressant effect of ketamine requires opioid system activation
The Brown University Psychopharmacology Update November 14, 2018 DOI: 10.1002/pu.30378 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Placebo-controlled study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Participants with treatment-resistant depression |
| Interventions | Naltrexone Ketamine |
| Topics | Esketamine Ketamine |
| Key points | Naltrexone given before ketamine infusion blocked ketamine's antidepressant effects but not the dissociation it induced in people with treatment-resistant depression. The authors suggest that ketamine's antidepressant effect requires activation of the opioid system. |
Abstract
A placebo‐controlled study in which participants with treatment‐resistant depression received naltrexone prior to infusion of ketamine found that the opioid antagonist blocked ketamine's antidepressant effects but not the dissociation induced by ketamine. These findings suggest that the antidepressant effect of ketamine requires activation of the opioid system.
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on ketamine, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subanesthetic Effects of the Noncompetitive NMDA Antagonist, Ketamine, in Humans Healthy human subjects recruited from the community | 1994 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 19 |
| Antidepressant Efficacy of Ketamine in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression: A Two-Site Randomized Controlled Trial Patients with treatment-resistant major depression experiencing a major depressive episode | 2013 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 73 |
| Remifentanil-induced Postoperative Hyperalgesia and Its Prevention with Small-dose Ketamine Patients undergoing major abdominal surgery | 2005 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 75 |
| Efficacy of Intravenous Ketamine for Treatment of Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Patients with chronic PTSD related to a range of trauma exposures | 2014 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Ketamine-Induced Deficits in Auditory and Visual Context-Dependent Processing in Healthy Volunteers Healthy volunteers | 2000 | Single-blind placebo-controlled study | n = 20 |