Research finding · July 2023
Ketamine treatment could be improved
Ketamine treatment has been utilized at an increased pace over recent years due to its rapid effect in reducing suicidal ideation for treatment-resistant Major Depressive Disorder. However, the anti-suicidal effects of ketamine have been found to be short-lived, leaving researchers with the task of understanding the underlying mechanisms of ketamine treatment with the hope of finding ways to maintain its effect.
Prior to administering ketamine treatment to two groups of depressed, suicidal individuals, Dr. Lynnette Averill and her team gave one group a pre-treatment of a protein complex that was suspected to potentially extend ketamine’s effects, and a placebo to the other group. After comparing results between the groups, no difference in effect was found. These findings suggest depression and suicidal ideation may involve distinct neurobiological pathways affected differently by ketamine. More research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which ketamine treatment works.
Citation: Averill, L. A., Averill, C. L., Gueorguieva, R., Fouda, S., Sherif, M., Ahn, K.-H., Ranganathan, M., D’Souza, D. C., Southwick, S. M., Sanacora, G., Duman, R. S., Krystal, J. H., & Abdallah, C. G. (2022). mTORC1 inhibitor effects on rapid ketamine-induced reductions in suicidal ideation in patients with treatment-resistant depression. Journal Of Affective Disorders, 303, 91-97, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.01.104
This finding comes from an AFSP-funded study — see the grant below ↓
