BackgroundUnipolar depression is a prevalent mental health disorder with persistent, treatment-resistant symptoms. Traditional antidepressants take weeks to show effects, underscoring the need for faster alternatives. Ketamine, originally an anaesthetic, has emerged as a rapid-acting antidepressant.ObjectiveThis systematic review evaluates ketamine's efficacy and safety in unipolar...
N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDA receptors) play a crucial role as ionotropic glutamate receptors in regulating neuroplasticity, learning, memory, and a range of psychiatric disorders. Studies indicate that dysfunction of NMDA receptors is a key pathological mechanism in depression, where abnormal activation can result in neuronal excitotoxicity, excessive extracellular calcium ion...
medRxivMay 27, 2025Colin G Walsh, Michael Ripperger, Thomas H McCoy et al.
preprint
As multiple strategies have emerged for managing treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, efficient identification of individuals at elevated risk for this outcome earlier in their illness course remains essential. We extracted electronic health records data for all individuals with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder who received an index antidepressant prescription in the clinical...
Ketamine has a long history as an anesthetic but has recently demonstrated antidepressant effects at sub-anesthetic doses (Matveychuk et al., 2020). For individuals with treatment-resistant depression (TRD), typical antidepressants are frequently ineffective, whereas ketamine’s unique mechanisms have demonstrated promising results in reducing depressive symptoms where other treatments have...
Perception integrates external sensory signals with internal predictions that reflect prior knowledge about the world. Previous research suggests that this integration is governed by slow alternations between an external mode, driven by sensory signals, and an internal mode, shaped by prior knowledge. Using a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over experiment in healthy human participants,...
Postpartum depression (PPD) is an increasingly prevalent but still poorly characterized disorder. Causal and modulating factors include hormones fluctuations, such as estrogen, progesterone, and allopregnolone, pathways imbalances, such as oxytocin and kynurenine, chronobiological factors, and brain imaging alterations. Treatment may differ from the traditional major depression management,...
Emerging viral pathogens, newly reported or rapidly evolving viruses, are a significant public health concern worldwide. Beyond their characteristic clinical presentations, emerging viruses, such as monkeypox virus (MPXV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), have been increasingly implicated in the development of various neuropsychiatric complications including...
PharmaceuticalsApril 30, 2025Paola Bozzatello, Roberta Novelli, Rebecca Schisano et al.6 citations
Psychiatric disorders are a major cause of illness in the world. Unfortunately, many patients are resistant to treatment and present serious complications. Schizophrenia is refractory to treatment in about one-third of patients. Antidepressants are effective in about half of patients. Suicidal ideation is an increasing issue in patients with mixed features in bipolar disorder (BD). Therefore,...
Ketamine, a fast-acting antidepressant, is a racemic mixture, composed of equal amounts of R- and S-ketamine. Preclinical studies are comparing them to better understand their role in therapeutic and undesirable effects. An important research gap is that studies do not use long clinically relevant protocols to compare the desired and undesired effects of ketamine enantiomers in modeled and...
CureusApril 1, 2025Ciara Mimms, Kassandra Sotelo, Abdul Saboor Khaliq1 citation
This systematic review explores the comparative efficacy and functional outcomes of psychedelic-assisted therapies in the management of treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a comprehensive literature search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for randomized controlled...