The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
September 12, 2011
Oz Malkesman, Daniel Austin, Tyson Tragon et al.
91 citations
Research suggests that dysfunctional glutamatergic signalling may contribute to depression, a debilitating mood disorder affecting millions of individuals worldwide. Ketamine, a N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, exerts rapid antidepressant effects in approximately 70% of patients. Glutamate evokes the release of D-serine from astrocytes and neurons, which then acts as a...
Behavioural Pharmacology
September 1, 2011
Mary Melissa Peet, Lisa E Baker
21 citations
Salvinorin A, the main active component of Salvia divinorum, is a potent and selective κ opioid receptor agonist. Synthetic derivatives of this substance may be useful in the development of medicinal treatments for pain, mood disorders, and drug dependence. Such developments require extensive preclinical screening of these compounds. The drug discrimination assay is a valuable method for...
Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
August 15, 2011
Kenji Hashimoto
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common, chronic, recurrent mental illness that affects millions of individuals worldwide. Currently available antidepressants are known to affect the monoaminergic (e.g., serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine) systems in the brain. Accumulating evidence suggests that the glutamatergic neurotransmission via the excitatory amino acid glutamate also plays an...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
July 7, 2011
Xavier López-Gil, Laura Jiménez-Sánchez, Tamara Romón et al.
35 citations
Previous studies have shown that systemic, but not unilateral intra-prefrontal cortex administration of non-competitive NMDA antagonists, increased prefrontal activity, the cortical efflux of serotonin, and induced stereotypies. In this work we used in-vivo microdialysis and immunohistochemistry to test the hypothesis as to whether MK-801 and ketamine need to act on both prefrontal cortices to...
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
July 7, 2011
Blynn G. Bunney, William E. Bunney
79 citations
Current antidepressants are ineffective in many depressed patients. Thus there is an urgent need to develop treatment strategies which have significantly faster response, can be sustained and have minimal side-effects. This paper reviews clinical data, potential biomarkers, mechanisms of action and future research directions for two proven strategies that produce marked improvement in severe...
Nature
June 15, 2011
Anita E. Autry, M. Adachi, E. Nosyreva et al.
Clinical studies consistently demonstrate that a single sub-psychomimetic dose of ketamine, an ionotropic glutamatergic NMDAR (N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor) antagonist, produces fast-acting antidepressant responses in patients suffering from major depressive disorder, although the underlying mechanism is unclear. Depressed patients report the alleviation of major depressive disorder symptoms...
Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry
June 1, 2011
Lobna Ibrahim, Nancy Diazgranados, David A. Luckenbaugh et al.
Ketamine rapidly improves depressive symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder (MDD) who do not respond to multiple standard antidepressants. However, it remains unknown whether ketamine is equally effective in patients with MDD who previously also did not respond to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This study compared 17 patients with treatment-resistant MDD who...
Emergency Medicine Journal
June 1, 2011
Miguel Galicia, Santiago Nogué, Òscar Miró
To describe the epidemiological profile and clinical manifestations of liquid ecstasy (GHB) poisonings. All cases of GHB poisoning or overdose admitted to the Emergency Department (ED) of the Hospital Clinic (Barcelona) between 2000 and 2007 were recorded. A total of 505 patients (mean age 24.7 years, 68% men) were included. Most patients were brought to the hospital by ambulance (98%), during...
Medical Hypotheses
May 2011
Edward C Lauterbach
Dextromethorphan shares pharmacological properties in common with antidepressants and, in particular, ketamine, a drug with demonstrated rapid-acting antidepressant activity. Pharmacodynamic similarities include actions on NMDA, μ opiate, sigma-1, calcium channel, serotonin transporter, and muscarinic sites. Additional unique properties potentially contributory to an antidepressant effect...
Fortschritte der Neurologie · Psychiatrie
April 2011
Georgios Paslakis, P Gass, Michael Deuschle
An increasing significance has been attributed to the glutamatergic system in the pathophysiology of affective disorders. Glutamate is the most important excitatory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. Glia cells are crucial regulators of the glutamatergic metabolism. Several studies have reported a dysfunction or reduced number of glia cells in patients suffering from depression....