Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious mental disorder that ranks among the major causes of disease burden. Standard medical treatment targeting cerebral monoamines often provides only insufficient symptom relief and fails in approximately every fifth patient. The complexity of MDD therefore, reflects more than monoaminergic dysregulation. Initial research argues the case for excessive glutamate levels, suggesting that antiglutamatergic drugs might be useful in treating MDD. Ketamine is a non-selective, high-affinity N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist most commonly used in pediatric and animal surgery. In the past, ketamine has gained popularity because of its ability to rapidly elevate mood, even in treatment-resistant and bipolar depression. However, there are still many obstacles before widespread clinical approval of ketamine treatment could become reality. In this review, ketamine’s powerful antidepressant effects are discussed and further research necessary for therapeutic application is outlined. NMDAR antagonists provide an entirely new way of treating the manifold appearances of depression that should not be left unused.
Keywords: Antidepressants, glutamate, ketamine, major depression, monoamines, NMDAR.
Current Neuropharmacology
Title:Ketamine as Antidepressant? Current State and Future Perspectives
Volume: 12 Issue: 1
Author(s): H. W.W. Hasselmann
Affiliation:
Keywords: Antidepressants, glutamate, ketamine, major depression, monoamines, NMDAR.
Abstract: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious mental disorder that ranks among the major causes of disease burden. Standard medical treatment targeting cerebral monoamines often provides only insufficient symptom relief and fails in approximately every fifth patient. The complexity of MDD therefore, reflects more than monoaminergic dysregulation. Initial research argues the case for excessive glutamate levels, suggesting that antiglutamatergic drugs might be useful in treating MDD. Ketamine is a non-selective, high-affinity N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist most commonly used in pediatric and animal surgery. In the past, ketamine has gained popularity because of its ability to rapidly elevate mood, even in treatment-resistant and bipolar depression. However, there are still many obstacles before widespread clinical approval of ketamine treatment could become reality. In this review, ketamine’s powerful antidepressant effects are discussed and further research necessary for therapeutic application is outlined. NMDAR antagonists provide an entirely new way of treating the manifold appearances of depression that should not be left unused.
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Cite this article as:
Hasselmann W.W. H., Ketamine as Antidepressant? Current State and Future Perspectives, Current Neuropharmacology 2014; 12 (1) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1570159X113119990043
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1570159X113119990043 |
Print ISSN 1570-159X |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 1875-6190 |
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