Psychedelic drugs, often referred to as hallucinogens, are quite distinct from other classes of psychotropic drugs. Although the subjective and behavioral effects they induce are quite dramatic, they possess little addictive potential when compared to nicotine, alcohol or opiates. Since the discovery of ketamine antidepressant effects, there has been growing interest for these molecules....
OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of high baseline anxiety on response to ketamine versus midazolam (active placebo) in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). METHODS: In a multisite, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 99 subjects with TRD were randomized to one of five arms: a single dose of intravenous ketamine 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, 1.0 mg/kg, or midazolam 0.045 mg/kg. The primary outcome measure...
Depression is a common mental disorder that is associated with memory dysfunction. Ketamine has recently been demonstrated to be a rapid antidepressant. The mechanisms underlying how depression induces memory dysfunction and how ketamine relieves depressive symptoms remain poorly understood. In this work, we have three groups of male C57BL/6J mice: mice exposed to chronic social defeat stress...
Numerous placebo-controlled studies have demonstrated the ability of ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, to induce rapid (within hours), transient antidepressant effects when administered intravenously (IV) at subanesthetic doses (0.5 mg/kg over 40 min). However, the optimal antidepressant dose remains unknown. We aimed to compare to active placebo the rapid acting antidepressant properties...
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a disabling and demoralizing phenomenon for patients and clinicians. For many years, treatment for depression has relied on the monoamine theory, with medications limited in efficacy and requiring prolonged use before any therapeutic effects are evident. The current article reviews novel approaches to pharmacological treatment of TRD, including...
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is one of the most effective treatments for depressive disorder. Sub-anesthetic dose of ketamine exerts a rapid and robust antidepressive effect. However, it is still unclear whether ketamine usage in ECT is efficacious as an antidepressant. We aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of ketamine in ECT among patients with depressive...
INTRODUCTION: The use of ketamine as an option in the treatment of depressive disorder is growing rapidly, supported by numerous clinical trials attesting its efficacy and safety. Esketamine, the S (+) enantiomer of ketamine, is the most widely used form in the anesthetic environment in some countries, and new studies have shown that it may also be effective in depression and with better...
Abstract Background Previous studies have demonstrated ketamine to have a rapid antidepressant effect in some patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but the effect is unfortunately not sustained in the long term. In this study, we report on the clinical use of ongoing maintenance ketamine infusions in a group of patients with TRD, beyond an acute course of 6 to 8 ketamine...
Ketamine has shown effectiveness as a rapid-acting antidepressant with antisuicidal effects in terms of reduction of suicidal ideation in the short term. However, the evidence for long-term maintenance ketamine therapy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and suicidal behavior is limited. This case series (N=13) highlights the role of adjunctive serial maintenance ketamine infusions in...
This study explores the responses to ketamine in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) using a wearable forehead electroencephalography (EEG) device. We recruited fifty-five outpatients with TRD who were randomised into three approximately equal-sized groups (A: 0.5 mg/kg ketamine; B: 0.2 mg/kg ketamine; and C: normal saline) under double-blind conditions. The ketamine responses...