Ketamine, a dissociative anaesthetic, has been used in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) as a rapid acting antidepressant drug. Recent studies have shown that ketamine may increase the potential risk of treatment-induced mania in MDD patients. Lithium is a well-known mood stabilizer and has been widely used for the treatment of mania. It is not fully understood which forebrain...
BACKGROUND Ketamine elicits rapid onset antidepressant effects in patients with clinical depression through mechanisms hypothesized to involve the genesis of neocortical dendritic spines and synapses. Yet, the observed changes in dendritic spine morphology usually emerge well after ketamine clearance, raising questions about the link between rapid behavioral effects of ketamine and plasticity....
OBJECTIVE Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic and disabling disorder, for which available pharmacotherapies have limited efficacy. The authors' previous proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial of single-dose intravenous ketamine infusion in individuals with PTSD showed significant and rapid PTSD symptom reduction 24 hours postinfusion. The present study is the first...
Ketamine produces a rapid antidepressant effect, but its use can be associated with serious side effects. Hence, other therapeutic options that will allow us to obtain a quick and safe antidepressant effect by modulating glutamatergic transmission are needed. Antagonists of mGlu2/3 receptors, which share some mechanisms of action with ketamine, may be good candidates to obtain this effect....
Acute ketamine administration has been widely used in neuroimaging research to mimic psychosis-like symptoms. Within the last two decades, ketamine has also emerged as a potent, fast-acting antidepressant. The delayed effects of the drug, observed 2–48 h after a single infusion, are associated with marked improvements in depressive symptoms. At the systems’ level, several studies have...
The antidepressant actions of the NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine require activity-dependent release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Our recent study shows a similar requirement for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Previous studies have reported that both BDNF and VEGF activate TRPC3 and TRPC6 via diacylglycerol production, and...
Disturbed functional connectivity is assumed to cause neurocognitive deficits in patients suffering from schizophrenia. A Glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) dysfunction has been suggested as a possible mechanism underlying altered connectivity in schizophrenia, especially in the gamma- and theta-frequency range. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of the...
abstract The objective of this chapter is to highlight some intriguing aspects of the history of ketamine. First, we will review the methodologies used when writing a small fragment of the overall history of psychopharmacology. Second, and due to the recent explosion of papers on ketamine and related substances in the past decade, we have focused on two themes, the interplay of ketamine with...
Patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) treated with esketamine nasal spray commonly experience transient symptoms of dissociation. Manifestations of dissociation, such as feelings of detachment from the environment, can cause considerable anxiety for patients. Nonpharmacologic interventions may help clinicians to manage associated anxiety and confusion due to dissociation following...
Background Ketamine is a new and promising treatment for depression but comes with challenges to implement because of its potential for abuse. Aims We sought the views of patients to inform policy and practical decisions about the clinical use of ketamine before large-scale roll-out is considered. Method This qualitative study used three focus groups and three validation sessions from 14...
Introduction: While the use of ketamine to treat severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder has been well documented in the literature, fewer studies have investigated the efficacy of Intramuscular (IM) ketamine to treat these conditions.
Context: Refractory depression is seen in at least 10 to 30 percent of the patients suffering from depression. Ketamine is a new and effective option with rapid onset of action. But there are limited studies where IM Ketamine was used for treating refractory depression. Hence, this study is aimed at assessing the efficacy of IM Ketamine in patients with refractory depressionAims: To assess the...
Ketamine, classical psychedelics and sleep deprivation are associated with rapid effects on depression. Interestingly, these interventions also have common psychotomimetic actions, mirroring aspects of psychosis such as an altered sense of self, perceptual distortions and distorted thinking. This raises the question whether these interventions might be acute antidepressants through the same...
Only little research has been conducted on the pharmacological underpinnings of metacognition. Here, we tested the modulatory effects of a single intravenous dose (100 ng/ml) of the N-methyl-D-aspartate-glutamate-receptor antagonist ketamine, a compound known to induce altered states of consciousness, on metacognition and its neural correlates. Fifty-three young, healthy adults completed two...
Background: Bulimia nervosa is a disabling psychiatric disorder that considerably impairs physical health, disrupts psychosocial functioning, and reduces overall quality of life. Despite available treatment, less than half of sufferers achieve recovery and approximately a third become chronically ill. Extreme and enduring cases are particularly resistant to first-line treatment, namely...
Background: There is evidence supporting the use of ketamine in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). However, there are some safety and tolerability concerns associated with ketamine. This study aimed to investigate ketamine’s safety and tolerability to the central nervous system and to assess the relationship between dissociative symptomology and psychometric outcomes during and after...
Abnormalities in the endocrine and immune systems are well documented in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), however, the mechanisms by which the novel antidepressant treatment, ketamine, influences these physiological systems are unclear. This study examined the effects of repeated ketamine infusions on the endocrine and immune systems using the peripheral biomarkers C-reactive...
Traditionally, ketamine was considered useful as a dissociative anesthetic. More recently, ketamine has been examined for its effects as a fast-acting antidepressant, for treatment-resistant depression, and as a non-opiate treatment of chronic pain. Unfortunately, ketamine has enjoyed popularity as a recreational drug among both adolescents and young adults. While some research suggests the use...
BackgroundKetamine has recently received considerable attention regarding its antidepressant and anti-suicidal effects. Trials have generally focused on short-term effects of single intravenous infusions. Research on patient experiences is lacking.AimsTo investigate the experiences over time of individuals receiving ketamine treatment in a routine clinic, including impacts on mood and...
Depression is a common mental disorder that affects many people worldwide, while a significant proportion of patients remain non-responsive to antidepressant medications. Alternative treatment options such as ketamine therapy and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) therapy are offered nowadays. This study aims to describe and compare the acute antidepressive efficacy of both,...