Affective biases shape cognitive and emotional behaviour and are important in major depressive disorder (MDD). Modulation of affective biases by the NMDA antagonist, ketamine, may underlie its antidepressant effects but not all NMDA antagonists are efficacious. Some studies suggest ketamine's efficacy involves non-NMDA mechanisms e.g. via its active metabolite HNK (2R, 6R)-hydroxynorketamine),...
Medical Journal of BabylonMay 27, 2026Mohanad Suhail Najm, Nahidah Ibrahim Hammadi, Anas Hamed Musleh et al.
Background: B-amyloid plaque is a lesion in the brain’s gray matter, imaging studies show significant Ab aggregation in the occipital lobes. This inflammatory reaction causes neuronal impairment and neurotoxicity. Ketamine, an NMDA receptor blocker used in pediatrics, can cause neuronal death or neurodegeneration during embryonic phases, as animal trials have shown. Objectives: The study...
Een nieuwe gerandomiseerde studie toonde aan dat seriële intraveneuze ketamine niet significant effectiever was dan het actieve placebo midazolam bij het verminderen van depressieve symptomen of het verbeteren van de kwaliteit van leven. Hoewel de studie mogelijk onvoldoende power had door een kleine steekproefomvang (n=63), bleef de verbetering in MADRS-scores ruim onder het minimaal klinisch...
A new randomized trial found serial intravenous ketamine was not significantly more effective than the active placebo midazolam in reducing depressive symptoms or improving quality of life. While the study may have been underpowered due to a small sample size (n=63), the improvement in MADRS scores fell short of the minimal clinically important difference. The study faced blinding failures,...
Abstract Ketamine and esketamine are increasingly used as rapid-acting antidepressants, yet concerns remain regarding potential structural neurotoxicity, particularly with chronic or high-dose exposure. Despite expanding clinical use, no comprehensive systematic review has integrated neurotoxicity evidence across preclinical and human studies while formally evaluating methodological quality....
INTRODUCTION: Bipolar depression with acute suicidal ideation and behavior (ASIB) is a life- threatening manifestation of bipolar disorder (BD), with a suicide risk higher than that in other psychiatric disorders and the general population. Rapid and effective interventions are critical, as traditional therapies are often slow and frequently insufficient. Currently, no drug is approved by the...
New findings published this month in The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP) on the use of ketamine followed by ultra‐low‐dose buprenorphine to sustain reductions in suicidal ideation are drawing attention from suicide prevention experts, who say the approach may help address a long‐standing gap in treatment during high‐risk periods following a crisis (see related story, p. 3).
Anxiety- and stress-related disorders are commonly treated using combinations of centrally acting drugs. However, the behavioral outcomes of interactions between GABAergic and glutamatergic systems remain incompletely characterized. The present study investigated the effects of flumazenil, ketamine and midazolam, and their combinations, on anxiety-like behavior in adult male rats using aversive...
Postoperative hallucinations and other psychotropic effects are known side effects, which may be dose-dependent. Higher doses exacerbate these changes, prolonging dissociative and hallucinatory experiences postoperatively. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of ketamine different doses on postoperative hallucination (score and types). This study was applied on (62) persons including (32)...
BiomedicinesMay 23, 2026Dominik Jucha, Michał Klimas, Dominika Wiśniewska et al.
Background/Objectives: Bipolar disorder affects about 40 million people worldwide, and the greatest burden of the disease is associated with depressive episodes. About 25% of patients experience drug-resistant depression, in which standard treatment turns out to be insufficient, and monotherapy often does not bring full remission. Despite the use of second-generation antipsychotics, the...
Background Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains a challenging condition to treat. Nonpsychedelic pharmacotherapies have modest efficacy, and trauma-focused therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) demonstrate higher response rates than medications, yet they suffer from high dropout rates (25–35%) and limited...
Background: Studies have demonstrated that subanesthetic-dose ketamine may modulate the functioning of specific depression-related brain regions, particularly the anterior cingulate cortex and prefrontal cortex. However, how subanesthetic-dose ketamine alters the global and regional graph theory metrics of resting-state functional connectivity in patients with treatment-resistant depression...
Background: Ketamine and esketamine ((es)ketamine) rapidly reduce depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation (SI) in treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but whether early SI improvement during the acute phase of the treatment predicts reduced suicide-associated emergency department (SAED) visits over the longer term remains unclear. Objectives: To examine whether early improvements in SI,...
New research on the relationship between cannabis and psychosis was released, and a presentation on how low‐dose buprenorphine combined with ketamine reduced suicidality in adults with major depressive disorder was published and presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
Emerging evidence shows that ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, can produce rapid anti-suicidal effects in treatment-resistant depression, yet its underlying neuropharmacological mechanisms remain elusive. The present study aimed at investigating the therapeutic effect of ketamine infusion on suicidal ideation by examining hemodynamic response changes in resting-state...
Background: Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) poses a significant therapeutic challenge, with remission often unattainable. Recognition and detection of treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) are essential, as these events may significantly influence the quality of treatment response. This knowledge aids in personalizing care and selecting the best treatment strategy. Methods: In a...
Ketamine, initially developed as a dissociative anaesthetic, has seen expanding therapeutic applications, in managing treatment-resistant depression and chronic pain. However, its psychoactive properties have also been associated with a significant rise in recreational use globally. Chronic, high-dose recreational ketamine use is associated with dependence potential and a spectrum of long-term...
Emerging research in contemplative science and psychedelic neuroscience suggests that deeply entrenched patterns of selfhood and cognition—often associated with mental disorders like depression—can be profoundly altered through both meditative practice and pharmacological intervention. This paper presents a neuroconstructivist framework for understanding how deep meditation and dissociative...
Background: Off-label use of intravenous ketamine (IVK) for depression is a widespread practice with limited regulation in the United States. There is an urgent need for current, evidence-informed treatment guidelines to facilitate patient safety, clinical decision-making, and care quality in real-world contexts. Methods: The American Society of Ketamine Physicians, Psychotherapists and...