Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine
January 17, 2020
C S Gautam, Sonia S Mahajan, Jatin Sharma et al.
31 citations
Ketamine is a noncompetitive antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor which also interacts with various other receptors that account for its myriad actions. Originally approved as a general anesthetic, it is being explored to be repurposed for numerous other indications such as depressive disorders, suicidal ideation, substance-use disorders, anxiety disorders, chronic pain,...
Biological Psychiatry
October 15, 2018
Chun Yang, Shizuka Kobayashi, Kazuhito Nakao et al.
Ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, exerts robust antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant depression. The precise mechanisms underlying ketamine's antidepressant actions remain unclear, although previous research suggests that alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid receptor (AMPAR) activation plays a role. We investigated whether...
Pharmacological Reports
October 2018
Agnieszka Pałucha-Poniewiera
Over the past decade, ketamine has been one of the most commonly studied potential antidepressants. This is because it produces a spectacularly rapid and persistent therapeutic effect in people suffering from severe treatment-resistant depression (TRD), for which classical drugs are ineffective. Similar efficacy was demonstrated for scopolamine, a drug belonging to a completely different...
Journal of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals
September 2018
Lu Chen, Yong Gong, Rhys Salter
Ketamine is a well-known general anesthetic that inhibits cerebral NMDA receptors. Norketamine is a major circulating metabolite of this drug. A nasal spray formulation of esketamine, the S enantiomer of ketamine, is under development for the management of treatment-resistant depression. To assess the pharmacokinetic properties, C-14 labeled ketamine and norketamine were prepared separately...
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior
September 2018
Zheng Tian, Chao Dong, Atsuhiro Fujita et al.
The N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist (R,S)-ketamine has robust antidepressant effects in depressed patients although it has detrimental side effects such as psychotomimetic and dissociative symptoms. (R,S)-Ketamine is known to cause the expression of heat shock protein HSP-70 (a marker for neuronal injury) in the retrosplenial cortex of rat brain, suggesting that the...
CNS Spectrums
December 2017
Michael E. Thase
There is a great unmet need for new medications with novel mechanisms of action that can effectively treat patients who do not benefit from standard antidepressant therapies. After a period in which it seemed as if the pharmaceutical pipeline for new antidepressants was going dry, the past decade has witnessed renewed interest, beginning with discovery of the antidepressant effects of ketamine....
JAMA
October 26, 2026
David Feifel, Mathieu Seynaeve, Wiesław Jerzy Cubała et al.
Psychedelics represent a potential breakthrough for treatment-resistant depression; however, the prolonged in-clinic monitoring required for compounds such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide is a logistical hurdle to widespread use. Intranasal mebufotenin (5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine), a 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A (5-HT1A) and 5-HT2A agonist associated with brief psychedelic...
Diálogos Interdisciplinares em Psiquiatria e Saúde Mental
October 19, 2026
Letícia Macedo Pinto, Lucas Macedo Pinto, Joel Porfírio Pinto
Introduction: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) presents approximately 20% of cases refractory to conventional treatments, driving the investigation of pathophysiological pathways, including the glutamatergic hypothesis. In this context, ketamine emerges as a potential intervention. This study reviewed the literature on ketamine use in OCD, focusing on efficacy, mechanisms, and safety....
Trials
October 14, 2026
Luca Pani, Fabio Tascedda
Abstract: Background: The registry record of psychedelic and related rapid-acting compounds is large, heterogeneous and laborious to synthesize by hand. We tested whether a large language model (LLM) with live access to the ClinicalTrials.gov application programming interface (API) could produce a timely, structured and reproducible characterization of this landscape. Methods: Cross-sectional...
Surgical Neurology International
October 9, 2026
Andrea Garcia-Bitar, Eduardo Jesus Castañeda, José Rafael Buenrostro-Rangel et al.
Background: Neurosurgical patients carry a high and frequently undertreated burden of psychological suffering, acute and chronic pain, and neurological deficits amenable to recovery. The resurgence of psychedelic research has produced relevant evidence in adjacent fields, but its applicability to neurosurgery has not been systematized. This review synthesizes that evidence across prevention,...