Evidence-Based Mental Health
May 2016
Jaclyn Schwartz, James W. Murrough, Dan V. Iosifescu
Approximately one-third of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) do not respond to existing antidepressants, and those who do generally take weeks to months to achieve a significant effect. There is a clear unmet need for rapidly acting and more efficacious treatments. We will review recent developments in the study of ketamine, an old anaesthetic agent which has shown significant...
April 20, 2016
Fangbo Lin, Deren Hou, Qiuping Tang
8 citations
OBJECTIVE: The pathogenesis and etiology of still remain unknown. Current evidence suggests that the occurrence of depression may be related to a reduced secretion of neurotransmitters, neuronal apoptosis, inflammation, intestinal flora and other factors. Although the commonly used antidepressants such as SSRIs, SNRIs, NaSSA, and SARIs produce some therapeutic effects, they fail to relieve the...
American Journal of Psychiatry
April 8, 2016
Jaskaran Singh, Maggie Fedgchin, Ella Daly et al.
530 citations
OBJECTIVE: Ketamine, an N-methyl-d-aspartate glutamate receptor antagonist, has demonstrated a rapid-onset antidepressant effect in patients with treatment-resistant depression. This study evaluated the efficacy of twice- and thrice-weekly intravenous administration of ketamine in sustaining initial antidepressant effects in patients with treatment-resistant depression. METHOD: In a...
L'Encephale
April 2016
J F Costemale-Lacoste, J P Guilloux, R Gaillard
Since the discovery of antidepressants, new treatments have emerged with fewer side effects but no greater efficacy. Glycogen synthase kinase 3 β (GSK-3β), a kinase known for its activity on glycogen synthesis, has in the last few years raised growing interest in biological psychiatry. Several efficient treatments in major depression have an inhibitory effect on this kinase, which could be...
Current Neuropharmacology
March 10, 2016
Eric S. Wohleb, Danielle M. Gerhard, Alex Thomas et al.
148 citations
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent neuropsychiatric disease that causes profound social and economic burdens. The impact of MDD is compounded by the limited therapeutic efficacy and delay of weeks to months of currently available medications. These issues highlight the need for more efficacious and faster-acting treatments to alleviate the burdens of MDD. Recent breakthroughs...
The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry
February 26, 2016
Eric J Lenze, Nuri B Farber, E. Kharasch et al.
ABSTRACT Objectives We examined the feasibility of a high-dose, 96-h infusion of ketamine in treatment-resistant depression. Methods Ten participants were randomised to receive a 96-h ketamine infusion, titrated as tolerated to a target rate of 0.6 mg/kg/h, while 10 received a 40-min ketamine infusion (0.5 mg/kg). Both groups received clonidine, titrated to a maximum of 0.6 mg orally daily,...
Behavioural Brain Research
February 15, 2016
Lakshmi Rajagopal, Jeffrey S Burgdorf, Joseph R Moskal et al.
GLYX-13 (rapastinel), a tetrapeptide (Thr-Pro-Pro-Thr-amide), has been reported to have fast acting antidepressant properties in man based upon its N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) glycine site functional partial agonism. Ketamine, a non-competitive NMDAR antagonist, also reported to have fast acting antidepressant properties, produces cognitive impairment in rodents and man, whereas...
Psychological Medicine
February 12, 2016
Taishiro Kishimoto, J. M. Chawla, K. Hagi et al.
363 citations
Background Ketamine and non-ketamine N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonists (NMDAR antagonists) recently demonstrated antidepressant efficacy for the treatment of refractory depression, but effect sizes, trajectories and possible class effects are unclear. Method We searched PubMed/PsycINFO/Web of Science/clinicaltrials.gov until 25 August 2015. Parallel-group or cross-over randomized...
Drug Discovery Today
February 6, 2016
Danielle M. Gerhard, Eric S. Wohleb, Ronald S. Duman
Major depression is a chronic and debilitating illness that effects approximately 1 in 5 people, but currently available treatments are limited by low rates of efficacy, therapeutic time lag, and undesirable side effects. Recent efforts have been directed towards investigating rapid-acting agents that reverse the behavioral and neuronal deficits of chronic stress and depression, notably the...
The British Journal of Psychiatry
February 1, 2016
Robert A Schoevers, Tharcila V. Chaves, Sonya M. Balukova et al.
80 citations
BACKGROUND: Recent studies with intravenous (i.v.) application of ketamine show remarkable but short-term success in patients with MDD. Studies in patients with chronic pain have used different ketamine applications for longer time periods. This experience may be relevant for psychiatric indications. AIMS: To review the literature about the dosing regimen, duration, effects and side-effects of...