Abstract Psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic with therapeutic potential for treating mental illnesses 1–4 . At the cellular level, psychedelics induce structural neural plasticity 5,6 , exemplified by the drug-evoked growth and remodeling of dendritic spines in cortical pyramidal cells 7–9 . A key question is how these cellular modifications map onto cell type-specific circuits to produce...
The endogenous opioid system is thought to play a role in the placebo antidepressant response. A recent trial comparing the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine versus placebo in surgical patients, some of whom were on chronic opioid therapy, revealed a substantial placebo effect. This finding provided an opportunity to test the hypothesis that opioid agonist exposure interacts with placebo...
Stress is a driver of depression, and people with depression often struggle to cope with stress and anxiety. This study directly compares the mental health effects of a Wim Hof Method intervention to an active control condition (slow breathing) in women with high stress and high depressive symptoms. We randomized 84 healthy midlife women with high stress and high depressive symptoms to either:...
Mindfulness-based interventions can improve psychological health; yet the mechanisms of change are underexplored. This pre-registered remote RCT evaluated a freely accessible digital mindfulness programme aiming to improve well-being, mental health and sleep quality. Health behaviour cognitions were explored as possible mediators. Participants from 91 countries (N = 1247, Mage = 27.03 [9.04])...
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for depression use regular mindfulness practice as a means of helping patients build skills that allow them to respond more adaptively to negative mood. Although effects of practice are assumed to accumulate over time, little is known about the trajectories of change in skills and symptoms beyond the duration of standard eight-week interventions....
NeuropharmacologyNovember 1, 2024M C Acero-Castillo, M B M Correia, F V Caixeta et al.7 citations
Ketamine is an NMDA (N-methyl-d-aspartate) glutamate receptor antagonist, which has a myriad of dose-dependent pharmacological and behavioral effects, including anesthetic, sedative, amnestic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory properties. Intriguingly, ketamine at subanesthetic doses displays a relevant profile both in mimicking symptoms of schizophrenia and also as the first fast-acting...
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a chronic, burdensome, highly prevalent disease that is characterized by depressed mood and anhedonia. MDD is especially burdensome as approved monoamine antidepressant treatments have weeks-long delays before clinical benefit and low remission rates. In the past 2 decades, a promising target emerged to improve patient outcomes in depression treatment:...
Antidepressant drugs promote neuronal plasticity, and activation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling through its receptor neuronal receptor tyrosine kinase 2 (NTRK2 or TRKB) is among the critical steps in this process. These mechanisms are shared by typical slow-acting antidepressants, fast-acting ketamine, and psychedelic compounds, although the cellular targets of each drug...
MedicineNovember 1, 2024Xiangqian Wan, Ming Li, Xiantao Li et al.8 citations
The aim of this randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial was to study the effects of subclinical doses of esketamine on postpartum depression and pain following elective cesarean sections. This randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial included 150 pregnant women undergoing elective cesarean sections. After umbilical cord clamping, participants received either...
While esketamine is effective in treatment-resistant depression (TRD), detailed information about the effect of esketamine on cognition is relatively scarce. This analysis assessed the effect of short-term (3 double-blind [DB] studies: DB1, DB2, and DB4) or long-term maintenance treatment (DB3) with esketamine nasal spray (ESK) compared with a placebo (PBO) combined with active-comparator, on...
Regarding the article, 'Efficacy and safety of a 4-week course of repeated subcutaneous ketamine injections for treatment-resistant depression (KADS study): randomised double-blind active-controlled trial', we commend Loo et al for undertaking the Ketamine for Adult Depression Study (KADS). In the interest of ensuring that accurate and balanced information is presented to healthcare...
The development of novel radiotracers for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging agents targeting the synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2 A (SV2A), an integral glycoprotein present in the membrane of all synaptic vesicles throughout the central nervous system, provides a method for the in vivo quantification of synaptic density. This is of particular interest in neuropsychiatric disorders given...
Abstract Purpose of the study Psilocybin is a rapidly-emerging treatment for depression, yet its impact on sleep is not well understood. We sought to explore the literature on sleep and psilocybin use, and explore the topic using our own primary data. Findings Whilst clinical trials demonstrate large depressive symptom improvements, the impact of psilocybin on sleep quality or insomnia...
Postpartum depression (PPD), now referred to as perinatal depression, is a prevalent and debilitating mood disorder that reduces health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and psychosocial functioning. Esketamine, which is efficacious in adults with treatment-resistant depression and individuals with depression and suicidality, is also analgesic in pain management during childbirth labour. Herein,...
Background: Due to the unsatisfactory therapeutic effects of current antidepressants, research has been launched into alternative treatment approaches, such as the administration of psychedelics. Psilocybin, a classic hallucinogen, has been shown to exert considerable positive influence on depression symptoms through its serotonergic and glutamatergic effects. This systematic review and...
Dear Editor, Mindfulness gives a sight to be aware of the present moment-by-moment sensations, emotions, thoughts, and experiences with a non-judgmental attitude.[1,2] Practitioners of mindfulness learn to live in the present moment and not travel in the past or future with their emotional interpretations of events which leads to pain in life. This technique is helpful in patient groups to...
Psychedelic drugs have seen a resurgence in interest as a next generation of psychiatric medicines with potential as rapid-acting antidepressants (RAADs). Despite promising early clinical trials, the mechanisms which underlie the effects of psychedelics are poorly understood. For example, key questions such as whether antidepressant and psychedelic effects involve related or independent...
This systematic review aims to elucidate the nexus between ketamine's psychoactive properties and its efficacy in treating a broad spectrum of psychiatric disorders. We searched three databases and used citation tracking to include 29 studies. Predominantly, mood disorders, including bipolar disorder (BD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) (MDD + BD: + n = 25 studies), a large part of them...
BMC PsychiatryOctober 28, 2024Sumaya Jobnah, Youssef Latifeh, Dina Al Kabani et al.2 citations
Chronic treatment-resistant depression (TRD) poses a major challenge for clinicians. Ketamine has shown a rapid but short-lived antidepressant effect in several studies involving TRD patients with different demographic and clinical profiles. Our study aimed to assess the antidepressant effect of serial infusion sessions of ketamine in patients with chronic TRD and evaluate the severity of...
Evidence indicates that ketamine is highly effective, has a lower side effect profile and is better tolerated compared to many augmentation strategies for refractory depression. This, combined with data on psychiatric treatment outcome mediators, suggests that earlier intervention with ketamine could improve outcomes for patients suffering from refractory depression.