BACKGROUND Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common psychological complication after radical lung cancer surgery and has a significant impact on postoperative recovery and quality of life. Esketamine, a new anesthetic agent, may be protective against postoperative PTSD through modulation of neurotransmitter systems and anti-inflammatory actions. AIM To explore the underlying mechanisms...
This systematic review aims to assess the efficacy and tolerability of ketamine in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a chronic and severe disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviours that can cause significant distress. Notwithstanding current treatments and interventions for obsessive-compulsive disorder, some individuals...
Ketamine combined with psychotherapy has shown promise in treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but predictors of clinical benefit remain unclear. In this systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis (IPDMA), we examined patient- and treatment-level predictors of PTSD symptom change after combined treatment. Eligible studies combined ketamine with psychotherapy in...
Background: Depression, anxiety,, and PTSD are leading global causes of disability. Standard interventions utilize slow mechanisms of action, high attrition, and significant accessibility barriers. While intravenous (IV) and intranasal ketamine are rapid-acting alternatives, high cost and intensive logistical requirements limit adoption. Sublingual (SL) at-home ketamine addresses some gaps but...
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Objective: Current treatments for schizophrenia (SZ) are often not effective for all symptoms, with sex-dependent effects poorly understood. Cannabidiol (CBD) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) have emerged as potential prophylactic options. We evaluated their efficacy in preventing positive, negative, and cognitive deficits in a ketamine (KET) rodent model of SZ in both sexes. Methods: Wistar rats...
Abstract Background Occupational burnout, recognized in ICD-11 as an occupational phenomenon, is a syndrome of chronic workplace stress comprising emotional exhaustion, cynicism (the analogue of the depersonalization dimension on the MBI-Human Services Survey form), and reduced professional efficacy on the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey (MBI-GS). Burnout is common among US working...
Schizophrenia ResearchJune 16, 2026David Olivares-Berjaga, Natàlia Rodríguez, Albert Martínez-pinteño et al.
Schizophrenia (SZ) is a neurodevelopmental disorder involving excitatory/inhibitory imbalance and apoptotic dysregulation. VDAC1, a voltage-dependent anion channel protein located in the mitochondrial outer membrane, plays a pivotal role in mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. However, its involvement in SZ remains underexplored. This study aimed to investigate VDAC1 protein levels in the...
Slow-wave activity (SWA), a key indicator of sleep homeostasis, is often diminished in individuals with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Ketamine, a rapid-acting antidepressant, increases SWA during the first period of non-rapid eye movement (NREM1) sleep. However, research into how ketamine affects sleep and its connection to treatment outcomes in TRD has been limited by small sample...
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) often occurs alongside treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but the impact of BPD on real-world outcomes with intranasal esketamine is unclear. Consecutive TRD outpatients initiating intranasal esketamine treatment at four Italian centres between 1 September 2024 and 30 September 2025 were enrolled in the study (n = 90): 45 with comorbid BPD and 45 without...
Background: Depression is a multifactorial disorder involving neurotransmitter dysregulation, HPA axis hyperactivity, neuroinflammation, and impaired neuroplasticity. While combination psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy remains first-line, ~30% of patients develop TRD. In the last few years ketamine has emerged as a rapid-acting therapeutic option for treatment-resistant cases. Aim: To review...
Effective treatments for prolonged disorders of consciousness (pDoC) remain limited. Grounded in the entropic brain hypothesis-that psychedelic agents facilitate consciousness recovery by increasing brain complexity-this study investigated esketamine, a nonclassical psychedelic drug, and its effects on electroencephalographic (EEG) neurophysiological metrics in pDoC patients. In this...
Background: State dissociation is commonly assessed using the Clinician Administered Dissociative States Scale (CADSS; 19-items). A briefer CADSS would have many advantages, enabling assessment of transient dissociative states and allowing repeated assessment within short intervals while minimizing participant burden. This is especially relevant in studies of dissociative drugs which cause...
Introduction: Contemporary psychiatry is grappling with a profound stagnation in innovation. It is primarily relying on the chronic management of symptoms through traditional daily-dose pharmacotherapy. The emergence of psychedelics and ketamine marks a significant departure from this model. It is offering rapid-acting, interventional alternatives that target the underlying neurobiological...
Scientific ReportsJune 14, 2026Bar Eilat Yogev, Gal Levi, Noa Efroni et al.
Alcohol consumption before trauma is a prevalent but understudied risk factor for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study investigated whether acute ethanol exposure prior to trauma modulates PTSD-like symptom development in rats, identified hippocampal mechanisms involved, and tested an early post-trauma intervention. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats received ethanol (1.6 g/kg, 40% v/v,...
Ketamine has revolutionized the treatment of mood disorders by offering rapid antidepressant effects, particularly in individuals with treatment-resistant depression. Unlike traditional monoaminergic antidepressants, ketamine acts primarily through antagonism of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, initiating a cascade of glutamatergic signaling that promotes synaptic plasticity,...
Introduction This study aims to systematically evaluate, through a systematic review and meta-analysis, the effect of esketamine on postoperative negative emotions (anxiety and depression) and cognitive function in patients undergoing general anesthesia. Methods Following PRISMA guidelines, we systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, and CNKI to identify studies...
Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) can lead to major trauma in terms of patients' mental health, including severe postoperative depression. This study aimed to investigate the effects of supplementing patient-controlled analgesia with low-dose esketamine on postoperative depression among patients undergoing PD. Eighty patients who were scheduled for PD were randomly assigned to either the control or...
For many patients with major depressive disorder, reaching remission — not just partial response — can significantly alter the course of illness, lowering the risk of relapse and improving day‐to‐day functioning. Yet that goal remains elusive for those with treatment‐resistant depression (TRD), where repeated medication failures, comorbid conditions, and lingering symptoms complicate care. Data...
Clinics and practiceJune 12, 2026Ana María De Granda-Beltrán, Alejandro Porras-Segovia, Daniel Núñez-arias et al.
Background: Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) poses a major clinical challenge, particularly when accompanied by suicidal behavior. Intranasal esketamine has demonstrated rapid antidepressant effects in TRD, but real-world comparative evidence remains limited. Methods: We conducted a six-month naturalistic prospective cohort study in two Spanish mental health centers, including 62 TRD...