The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
May 4, 2026
Samuel T. Wilkinson, Brandon Kitay, Matthew Macaluso et al.
Background: Suicide is a public health crisis in the US, with limited evidence demonstrating efficacy of treatments for high-risk patients due in part to their exclusion from most clinical trials. This clinical trial evaluates the feasibility and efficacy of adjunctive cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with esketamine in patients with major depression and suicidal ideation (MDSI). Methods:...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
May 3, 2026
Kuan-I Liu, Wei-Chen Lin, Cheng-Ta Li et al.
Intravenous ketamine demonstrates rapid efficacy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). However, its impact on individual depressive symptoms and whether the degree of treatment resistance moderates these effects remain unclear. This study aimed to dissect symptom-specific trajectories and examine the moderating role of the degree of treatment resistance. We conducted a post-hoc analysis of...
Trends in Neurosciences
May 2026
Manoela V. Fogaça
Ketamine's rapid antidepressant actions are commonly attributed to glutamatergic mechanisms. In a recent study, Luo and colleagues have shown that ketamine inhibits the serotonin transporter and that prefrontal serotonergic signaling synergizes with NMDA receptor blockade to recruit vasoactive intestinal peptide interneurons in mice, driving fast behavioral responses. These findings suggest...
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
May 1, 2026
Shimul A. Babli*1 Huijuan Song2 Sharmin Ferdous3 Farzana Rahman4 Dilyaver Matakhov5 Hannah Jeyakkodi6
preprint
Late-life treatment-resistant depression (TRD) poses substantial clinical challenges, with limited effectiveness of conventional antidepressants and heightened vulnerability to adverse effects among older adults. Ketamine and esketamine have emerged as rapid-acting antidepressants, but their efficacy and safety in geriatric populations remain incompletely characterised. A systematic review and...
The Brown University Psychopharmacology Update
May 1, 2026
Patients with treatment‐resistant depression who received a series of treatments with ketamine or esketamine showed a substantial reduction in emergency department visits related to suicidality over a 6‐month period, a study has found. Study participants had a 56.7% response rate of depression symptoms following the acute phase of treatment.
Journal of Affective Disorders
May 1, 2026
Michel Danon, Gabriela Ostronoff, Anne-Cécile Petit et al.
Regulatory approvals for intranasal esketamine in treatment-resistant depression (TRD) differ with respect to its indication for suicidal ideation. While rapid antidepressant effects are well documented, whether esketamine exerts an anti-suicidal effect independent of mood improvement remains unclear. In this two-center observational study, 261 adults with moderate-to-severe TRD at Sainte-Anne...
Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science
May 1, 2026
Mario Bogdanov, Jason N Scott, Shiba M Esfand et al.
1 citation
Ketamine is increasingly used as a therapeutic option for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) due to its rapid antidepressant properties; however, the mechanisms underlying these effects remain elusive. Preclinical evidence suggests ketamine acts on neural pathways implicated in reward processing, but translational efforts have proven challenging due to a lack of paradigms allowing for...
Medicine
May 1, 2026
Hai-Lin Hu, Qi-Zhou Huang, Ping-Xia Xie
Esketamine, the S-enantiomer of ketamine, has emerged as a rapid-acting antidepressant with unique mechanisms. This narrative review synthesizes current evidence on its clinical applications, safety, and regulatory status based on peer-reviewed literature published between January 2000 and March 2024, searched in PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. Esketamine exerts its effects...
Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology
May 1, 2026
Matteo Carminati, Mattia Tondello, Chiara Morana et al.
Growing evidence links inflammation with major depressive disorder (MDD) and treatment resistance. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has emerged as a simple peripheral marker of systemic inflammation and immune balance and it may capture clinically meaningful heterogeneity in inflammatory burden, potentially contributing to variability in antidepressant response and vulnerability to...
Cureus
May 1, 2026
Amalesh S Honnekeri
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) remains a significant clinical concern, particularly in patients who do not achieve adequate response with conventional antidepressant therapies. Ketamine and esketamine, which act on glutamatergic pathways, have been introduced into clinical practice as alternative therapeutic approaches within interventional psychiatry. This narrative review outlines key...