Experts Remain Enthusiastic About NMDA-Targeting Antidepressants
Psychiatric News April 4, 2018 DOI: 10.1176/appi.pn.2018.pp3a3 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that although several investigational glutamate-signaling compounds have faltered in recent clinical studies, upcoming data on esketamine and rapastinel may turn the tide. Notes that ketamine's rapid antidepressant effects, first shown in 2000, shifted attention from serotonin and dopamine toward glutamate signaling via NMDA receptor blockade. |
Abstract
Though several promising investigational compounds that regulate glutamate signaling have faltered in recent clinical studies, upcoming data on esketamine and rapastinel may turn the tide. When the anesthetic ketamine was first shown to have strong and rapid antidepressant properties back in 2000, it triggered a wave of excitement in the psychiatric community. Studies of mood disorders have long focused on serotonin and dopamine signaling in the brain, but ketamine blocks the NMDA receptor and affects glutamate signaling.