Ketamine as Antidepressant? Current State and Future Perspectives
Current Neuropharmacology August 1, 2013 DOI: 10.2174/1570159x113119990043 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Ketamine |
| Topics | Esketamine Ketamine |
| Citations | 36 |
| Key findings | Argues that depression involves more than monoaminergic dysregulation and that excessive glutamate may contribute, proposing NMDAR antagonists such as ketamine as a promising treatment. The authors state ketamine can rapidly elevate mood in treatment-resistant and bipolar depression but note obstacles remain before widespread clinical approval and outline needed further research. |
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious mental disorder that ranks among the major causes of disease burden. Standard medical treatment targeting cerebral monoamines often provides only insufficient symptom relief and fails in approximately every fifth patient. The complexity of MDD therefore, reflects more than monoaminergic dysregulation. Initial research argues the case for excessive glutamate levels, suggesting that antiglutamatergic drugs might be useful in treating MDD. Ketamine is a non-selective, high-affinity N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist most commonly used in pediatric and animal surgery. In the past, ketamine has gained popularity because of its ability to rapidly elevate mood, even in treatment-resistant and bipolar depression. However, there are still many obstacles before widespread clinical approval of ketamine treatment could become reality. In this review, ketamine's powerful antidepressant effects are discussed and further research necessary for therapeutic application is outlined. NMDAR antagonists provide an entirely new way of treating the manifold appearances of depression that should not be left unused.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on ketamine, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ketamine and Ketamine Metabolite Pharmacology: Insights into Therapeutic Mechanisms | 2018 | Review | |
| Mechanisms of Ketamine Action as an Antidepressant | 2018 | 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 | |
| Ketamine Pharmacology: An Update (Pharmacodynamics and Molecular Aspects, Recent Findings) | 2013 | Review | |
| A Consensus Statement on the Use of Ketamine in the Treatment of Mood Disorders | 2017 | Review and consensus statement |
Citations in the library
Cited by 5
- Ketamine for the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders: comprehensive systematic review BJPsych Open December 23, 2021
- Efficacy of ketamine therapy in the treatment of depression Indian Journal of Psychiatry 2019
- S-Ketamine Rapidly Reverses Synaptic and Vascular Deficits of Hippocampus in Genetic Animal Model of Depression The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology November 2, 2016
- Low-dose S-ketamine exerts antidepressant-like effects via enhanced hippocampal synaptic plasticity in postpartum depression rats. Neurobiology of Stress 2022
- Repurposing General Anesthetic Drugs to Treat Depression: A New Frontier for Anesthesiologists in Neuropsychiatric Care. Anesthesiology August 1, 2024
Cites 40
- A Randomized Trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate Antagonist in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression Archives of General Psychiatry August 1, 2006
- Subanesthetic Effects of the Noncompetitive NMDA Antagonist, Ketamine, in Humans Archives of General Psychiatry March 1, 1994
- mTOR-Dependent Synapse Formation Underlies the Rapid Antidepressant Effects of NMDA Antagonists Science August 19, 2010
- Activation of Glutamatergic Neurotransmission by Ketamine: A Novel Step in the Pathway from NMDA Receptor Blockade to Dopaminergic and Cognitive Disruptions Associated with the Prefrontal Cortex Journal of Neuroscience April 15, 1997
- A Randomized Add-on Trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate Antagonist in Treatment-Resistant Bipolar Depression Archives of General Psychiatry August 1, 2010
and 35 more in the library