What is the mechanism of Ketamine's rapid-onset antidepressant effect? A concise overview of the surprisingly large number of possibilities.

S E StrasburgerP M BhimaniJ H KaabeJ T KrysiakD L NanchanattT N NguyenK A PoughT A PrinceN S RamseyK H SavsaniL ScandlenM J CavarettaRobert B Raffa

Published in: Journal of clinical pharmacy and therapeutics (2017)

The surprising discovery of ketamine's rapid-onset antidepressant effect is a game-changer for the understanding and treatment of depressive illness. There is some convergence on NMDA receptor antagonism as a likely, but to date unproven, common mechanism. The surprising number of other mechanisms, and the several novel biochemical aetiologies of depression proposed, suggests exciting new drug-discovery targets.

Keyphrases

drug discovery
major depressive disorder
small molecule
pain management
bipolar disorder
loop mediated isothermal amplification
sleep quality
single cell
smoking cessation
sensitive detection