FOCUS: The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry
July 1, 2026
Morgan S. Hardy, S. William Li, Samuel T. Wilkinson
Over the past two decades, ketamine has emerged as a rapid-acting antidepressant, especially among patients with treatment-resistant depression. As an N-methyl-d-aspartate glutamate receptor antagonist, ketamine has reshaped the understanding of the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of depression treatment. Ketamine induces a transient state of enhanced neuroplasticity and likely...
Frontiers in Psychiatry
July 1, 2026
Chun-Hung Chang, Yu-Der Hsia, W Liu et al.
Introduction Treatment-resistant major depressive disorder with high-risk suicidal ideation is a psychiatric emergency that requires rapid and effective intervention. Although intranasal esketamine and intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) are time-efficient therapeutic options, clinical reports describing their combined use in an accelerated inpatient schedule are limited, particularly...
Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics
July 1, 2026
Stephen Rush, Henry A Nasrallah
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) represents an unmet challenge, accounting for disproportionate morbidity, disability, and healthcare burden in depression. Limitations of monoaminergic antidepressants have prompted a conceptual shift toward models emphasizing impaired neuroplasticity, synaptic dysfunction, and network dysregulation. This expert review synthesizes preclinical, translational,...
Neuropharmacology
July 1, 2026
Anne Nathalia De Sousa-Silva, Clarissa de Almeida Moura, Carina Ioná De Oliveira Torres et al.
1 citation
N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an naturally occurring indoleamine with hallucinogenic and antidepressant effects in humans. Here, we compared the effects of DMT and S-ketamine, a fast-acting antidepressant, in helpless mice. To induce helplessness, male single and group-housed mice were exposed to inescapable footshock stress; only helpless animals were subsequently treated with S-ketamine 10...
CNS Drugs
July 1, 2026
Omer A. Syed, Valentyn Sobolenko, Sean M. Nestor et al.
Background and Objective Ketamine and esketamine have emerged as effective and rapid-acting interventions for treatment-resistant depression. Nevertheless, the best-suited candidates for these treatments are not clear. As such, the ability to personalize treatment selection and parameters would likely improve therapeutic response. This systematic review synthesized the literature on clinical...
Psychosomatic Medicine and General Practice
June 30, 2026
Viacheslav Zaika, Yan Tytarenko
Background. Ketamine provides rapid but short-lived antidepressant effects for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). To prolong this response, ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT) combines the drug's pharmacological effects with psychotherapy. Aim. This study aims to analyze scientific evidence regarding the synergistic interaction between ketamine's pharmacological effects and modern...
Asian Journal of Medical Sciences
June 30, 2026
Raja Suhail Shounthoo, Ajaiz Rasool, Athar Un Nisa Quraishi et al.
Ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic introduced in the 1960s, has re-emerged as a versatile therapeutic agent extending beyond its traditional perioperative role. Its rapid antidepressant action in treatment-resistant depression and efficacy in acute and chronic pain syndromes have driven what is termed the “ketamine renaissance.” Unlike conventional monoaminergic antidepressants, ketamine...
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
June 30, 2026
C Hohoff, T Lange, L Steinbach et al.
Treatment resistance (TR) in major depressive disorder (MDD) affects a substantial minority of patients and is hard to recognize early, delaying intensified care. The Esketamine multi-omic biomarker evaluation in MDD (EMBER-MDD) is a non-interventional, investigator-initiated, in-vitro study within the EU Psych-STRATA programme, analyzing biospecimens collected in the randomized INTENSIFY study...
International Journal of Drug Delivery Technology
June 30, 2026
Angelin Grace Thomas, Dhivyaprasath Palaniappan, Sagar Guruswamy et al.
Major depressive disorder, or MDD, is a common cause of disability around the world. Treatment-resistant depression, or TRD, is a tough challenge. Many people do not respond well to treatment, which increases the risk of relapse and suicide. Esketamine is a new treatment that comes as a nasal spray. It works quickly and targets a specific brain receptor. This review looks at research from...
Neuropsychiatrie
June 30, 2026
Cielo A Estela-Fernandez, Reem Mohamed Yousif Elsheikh, Dal Bianco Beatrice et al.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a heterogeneous, debilitating disorder. A distinct subgroup within the MDD spectrum is identified to have treatment-resistant depression (TRD). There is an impetus to find alternative treatments for TRD to reduce disease burden and improve quality of life. Psychedelics have been used in the treatment of various psychiatric disorders since the 1950s, with...