Abstract Aim of study: The antidepressant effect of ketamine may be at least partly due to its antioxidant activity. The aim of the study was to assess whether ketamine develops a protective effect on HT22 neuronal cells under conditions of oxidative stress (OS) induced by hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). Material and methods The experiment was performed on an immortalized mouse hippocampal HT22...
Background: Esketamine nasal spray represents the first FDA approved treatment with a novel mechanism of action for treatment resistant depression (TRD) in decades. While its efficacy has been well established, a thorough understanding of the adverse effect profile remains essential for informed clinical decision making and optimal patient safety. We therefore undertook this systematic review...
People with alcohol use disorder experience alterations in consciousness from 0.8 mg/kg intravenous ketamine administration. Ketamine's effects appear to be broadly consistent across three repeated infusions. Ketamine-related reductions in alcohol consumption do not appear to be mediated by the acute psychoactive effects of ketamine.
General anesthetics can exert significant adverse effects on the central nervous system. This study aimed to investigate whether repeated exposure to sevoflurane induces depression-like behaviors in postpartum rats. Pregnant rats were exposed to 3% sevoflurane for 2 h on gestational days 13-15. Emotional behaviors were assessed on postpartum days 1, 7, 14, and 21. Hippocampal protein levels...
European PsychiatryFebruary 13, 2026Haining Ma, Huaigui Liu, Wenwei Zhang et al.
Considerable effort has been devoted to investigate the neuroimaging correlates and predictors of antidepressant response to ketamine, yet inconsistency in the location and nature of the regional brain effects makes it difficult to unify this research. Despite the revolutionary notion that psychiatric therapeutics show network-level brain representations, investigations into network...
Abstract Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common mental health condition affecting approximately 3-6% of the U.S. adult population annually, and is characterized by intrusive symptoms, avoidance, negative cognitive and mood alterations, and hyperarousal following trauma exposure. Ketamine shows promise as a treatment for PTSD in preliminary trials, though real-world...
Abstract Ketamine is an NMDA receptor antagonist with rapid-antidepressant properties when administered at a sub-anesthetic dose. Preclinical models indicate that a direct injection of ketamine into lateral habenula (Hb), a small midbrain structure with an evolutionarily preserved role in aversive learning across mammals, can rapidly relieve depression-like behavior. However, there is limited...
This thesis explores the use of ketamine in people with treatment-resistant depression. It starts by examining the concept of treatment-resistant depression, a term that is widely used but poorly defined. Importantly, this label may negatively influence patients’ expectations and sense of hope. As an alternative, more neutral framing is suggested.Survey data from individuals seeking ketamine...
BMC PsychiatryFebruary 9, 2026Song-Yuan Liu, Rong Huang, Zhuang Liu et al.
BACKGROUND: In recent years, evidence has suggested that subanesthetic doses of esketamine may have beneficial effects on perioperative anxiety and depression. Concurrently, various factors contribute to a high incidence of perioperative depression and anxiety in the breast cancer patient population. This study aimed to explore the impact of preoperative induction and intraoperative maintenance...
Background/Objectives: Esketamine-related dissociation is a transient, pharmacologically induced altered state that differs from the trait-like pathological dissociation typically observed in trauma-related conditions. While most studies have quantified these effects using the Clinician-Administered Dissociative States Scale (CADSS), patients' subjective phenomenology and meaning-making remain...
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) remains a complex challenge, often requiring interventions beyond standard medications. This review explores factors that may predict positive response to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and ketamine-based treatments to help guide clinical decision-making. A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA...
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a common and debilitating condition. Current treatments fail to provide adequate relief in roughly one-third of individuals, resulting in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Ketamine has emerged as a promising intervention for TRD, offering rapid and sustained antidepressant effects. However, benefits often require maintenance dosing, and long-term outcomes...
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) poses a serious challenge to psychopharmacology, as many patients do not achieve remission despite available therapies. The persistence and recurrence of the disease in the absence of response to antidepressant treatment highlight the complex and multifactorial nature of the disease, including the dysregulation of biological processes such as oxidative...
NeuropsychobiologyFebruary 5, 2026Lavanya Seth, Jitendriya Biswal, Surjeet Sahoo et al.
Severe depressive episodes with suicidal ideation present major therapeutic challenges and often require interventions beyond standard antidepressant therapy. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains a cornerstone treatment for refractory depression, while ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, has emerged as a rapid-acting antidepressant with potential benefits in...
Background: Ketamine and magnesium sulfate are commonly used perioperatively to prevent shivering, a frequent and clinically relevant complication of spinal and general anesthesia. Although their hypothermic effects are well documented, the neurotransmitter mechanisms underlying these effects remain insufficiently understood. This study examines whether serotonergic, adrenergic (α2), and...
Non-medical ketamine use is becoming increasingly common in the United States (US), but awareness remains limited among US healthcare providers. Here we present the case of a young woman who developed severe ketamine use disorder in the setting of an acute exacerbation of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She also demonstrated symptoms concerning for two known complications of...
Ketamine is known to be a rapid-acting antidepressant, but there is limited evidence regarding which types of patients are best-suited to this treatment and whether adjunctive psychotherapy improves outcomes. In a sample of 224 patients who received five ketamine infusions at a private clinic, this study uses Bayesian mixed modeling to examine the effects of early life stress (measured with the...
Without parallel public health action, reclassifying ketamine risks being a symbolic gesture rather than a strategy to reduce harm, write Adam Winstock, David Nutt, and Caroline Copeland
(R,S)-ketamine (ketamine) induces rapid and sustained antidepressant-relevant neuroplastogenic effects in vivo. The metabolite (2R,6R)-hydroxynorketamine (2R6R) forms shortly after the administration of ketamine, and independently elicits rapid plasticity and sustained metaplasticity. Ketamine's therapeutic actions appear to result from distinct, time-sensitive plasticity phases, though the...
Firefighters are exposed to a disproportionately high number of traumatic incidents and, thus, display elevated rates of trauma-related mental health disorders, with the reported average PTSD prevalence being 7.3% in firefighters vs 1.3-3.5% in the general populationOftentimes, conventional treatments demonstrate limited efficacy. Ketamine-assisted therapy (KAT) has recently arisen with...