Deficiencies in standard of care antidepressants are driving novel drug discovery. A new age of antidepressant medications has emerged with the introduction of rapid-acting antidepressants with efficacy in treatment-resistant patients. The newly approved medicines and those in clinical development for major depressive disorder (MDD) are documented in this scoping review of newly approved and...
There is much excitement surrounding recent research of promising, mechanistically novel psychotherapeutics - psychedelic, anesthetic, and dissociative agents - as they have demonstrated surprising efficacy in treating central nervous system (CNS) disorders, such as mood disorders and addiction. However, the mechanisms by which these drugs provide such profound psychological benefits are still...
Purpose: This Phase 3, multicenter study (NCT03434041) was conducted in primarily Chinese patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) to support the registration of esketamine nasal spray in China. Patients and methods: This randomized, double-blind, active-controlled study was conducted in China and the United States (US) in patients with TRD (single or recurrent episode). Eligible...
Objective: To evaluate and compare the efficacy of Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and Ketamine infusions in hospitalized patients suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD). Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study. Place and duration of study: Armed Forces Institute of Mental Health, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Feb to Apr 2021. Methodology: Forty in-patients diagnosed as having MDD...
The neural mechanisms underpinning ketamine’s dissociative and antidepressant effects remain poorly understood. Here, the authors analyzed ketamine-induced brain dynamics with intracranial recordings in humans and found that ketamine engages different brain areas in distinct frequency-dependent patterns that may relate to its dissociative and antidepressant effects. Ketamine produces...
Ketamine is a novel drug used for treatment- resistant depression. The initial randomized controlled trials (RCTs) established intravenous (IV) ketamine's rapid antidepressant effects for refrac-tory major depression, leading to its widespread use. However, the data for ketamine's efficacy in treatment- resistant bipolar depression (TRBD) remain minimal. There are 3 single infusion RCTs ( n =...
Post-stroke anxiety (PSA) is a kind of affective disorder occurring after a stroke, with anxiety as the primary clinical manifestation. PSA's mechanism is unclear, and there are few prevention and treatment measures. Our previous study found that HDAC3 could activate NF-κB signaling through mediated p65 deacetylation, which further influenced microglia activation. That implies HDAC3 may be the...
While driving under the influence of drugs, drivers are more likely to be involved in and cause more accidents than drivers who do not drive under the influence. Ketamine is derived from phencyclidine and acts as a noncompetitive antagonist and allosteric modulator of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors. Ketamine has been used to treat a variety of psychiatric disorders, with the most notable being...
Major depressive disorder presents a substantial global health burden, and at least 30-40% of patients exhibit treatment resistance to antidepressants. Ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, is used as an anesthetic agent. In 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved esketamine (the S-enantiomer of ketamine) as a therapeutic agent for treatment-resistant depression; however,...
Abstract Background The benefits of low-dose ketamine for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and prominent suicidal ideation require further investigation. The effects of treatment refractoriness, the duration of the current depressive episode, and the number of prior antidepressant failures on ketamine efficacy also require clarification. Methods We recruited 84 outpatients...
A coherent sense of self is crucial for social functioning and mental health. The N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist ketamine induces short-term dissociative experiences, modelling an altered state of self-perception. This randomized double-blind placebo-controlled within-subject study investigated the mechanisms for ketamine’s effects on the bodily sense of self. Participants received intravenous...
Background: Depressive symptoms are common among patients with lung cancer. We aimed to assess the effects of esketamine on postoperative depressive symptoms after thoracoscopic lung cancer surgery. Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 156 patients undergoing thoracoscopic lung cancer surgery were randomly allocated in a 1:1 ratio to receive intravenous...
This exploratory post hoc analysis of two pooled 4-week, phase 3, double-blind, placebo- and active-controlled studies that compared esketamine nasal spray plus a newly initiated oral antidepressant (ESK+AD; n = 310) with a newly initiated oral AD plus placebo nasal spray (AD+PBO; n = 208) in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) examined baseline patient demographic and...
Purpose: Suicide is a major public health concern with currently no validated and efficacious treatments approved. Preliminary evidence suggests that intravenous ketamine has rapid and sustained antidepressant effects, making it a candidate with therapeutic potential for depressed patients at risk for suicide. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of ketamine and esketamine in...
Ketamine is a " dissociative anaesthetic " with fast analgesic and amnesic properties that has been used since more than 40 years. Today, ketamine abuse has become a public health concern. We report the case of a 23-year-old patient who came to the Casablanca Addictology Centre asking for help with ketamine abuse. At the interview the patient presented depressive symptoms and had already made 3...
Objectives: Evidence suggests that ketamine's influence on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) might be involved in its mechanism of rapid antidepressant action. We aimed to evaluate the differential impact of ketamine and esketamine on serum BDNF levels and its association with response patterns in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Methods: Participants (n = 53) are from a randomized,...
Depression is a major public health concern. Unfortunately, the present antidepressants often are insufficiently effective, whilst the discovery of more effective antidepressants has been extremely sluggish. The objective of this review was to combine the literature on depression with the pharmacology of antidepressant compounds, in order to formulate a conceivable pathophysiological process,...
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has high rates of comorbidity with mood disorders, including treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Comorbidity of BPD with depression is associated with poorer response to antidepressants. Intravenous ketamine is a novel treatment for TRD that has not been specifically evaluated in patients with comorbid BPD. In this retrospective analysis of data collected...
The present study aimed to examine a weakly electric fish Gnathonemus petersii (G. petersii) as a candidate model organism of glutamatergic theory of schizophrenia. The idea of G. petersii elevating the modeling of schizophrenia symptoms is based on the fish's electrolocation and electrocommunication abilities. Fish were exposed to the NMDA antagonist ketamine in two distinct series differing...
Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the response of treatment resistant depression to IV ketamine therapy protocol and explore the perspectives of patients regarding the acceptability of this treatment modality. Study Design: Mixed methods assessment including Quasi experimental design and Qualitative interviews. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted at Department of...