Innovative Psychiatry
Abstract BACKGROUND: Antidepressant response to a single sub-anesthetic dose infusion of the glutamatergic modulator ketamine is transient in most depressed patients; however, a minority continue to experience an extended response. This study examined depressive symptoms and potential clinical predictors of extended response to ketamine in subjects with mood disorders and found that a dissociative response […]
Abstract Ketamine was introduced into clinical practice in the 1960s and continues to be both clinically useful and scientifically fascinating. With considerably diverse molecular targets and neurophysiological properties, ketamine’s effects on the central nervous system remain incompletely understood. Investigators have leveraged the unique characteristics of ketamine to explore the invariant, fundamental mechanisms of anesthetic action. […]
INTRODUCTION: Ketamine’s efficacy in depressive disorders has been established in several controlled trials. The aim of the present study was to determine whether or not ketamine administration significantly improves depressive symptomatology in depression and more specifically in major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar depression, resistant depression (non-ECT studies), and as an anesthetic agent in electroconvulsive therapy […]
Excerpts of PBS SoCal show on the drug ketamine for the treatment of depression.
Ronald S. Duman, PhD, Elizabeth Mears, Ph.D., and House Jameson, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Neurobiology and of Pharmacology at Yale School of Medicine, discuss advances in the treatment of depression. (April 2011)
Date: January 7, 2014 Source: RIKEN Summary: PET molecular imaging of the brain reveals that ketamine may act as an antidepressant by boosting serotonin activity in brain areas involved in motivation.
Date: May 18, 2016 Source: Penn State Summary: New research demonstrates the effectiveness of ketamine to treat depression in a mouse model of the disease. The brings together two hypotheses: 1) that depression results from deficits in GABA signaling and 2) that depression results from deficits in glutamate signaling. It shows that the depression-like behavior […]
Date: May 10, 2016 Source: Massachusetts General Hospital Summary: Repeat ketamine infusions decreased — and for some, eliminated — suicidal thoughts in outpatients with treatment-resistant depression, report investigators.
Date: May 18, 2016 Source: American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Summary: Ketamine, a synthetic analogue of PCP, has recently taken the spotlight as a novel, fast-acting antidepressant. However, experts say that more research on usage of ketamine as an antidepressant is needed.
Date: May 4, 2016 Source: NIH/National Institute of Mental Health Summary: A chemical byproduct, or metabolite, created as the body breaks down ketamine likely holds the secret to its rapid antidepressant action. This metabolite singularly reversed depression-like behaviors in mice without triggering any of the anesthetic, dissociative, or addictive side effects associated with ketamine. The […]