Lori Calabrese, MD

Category: News & Media

  • Symptomatology and Predictors of Antidepressant Efficacy in Extended Responders to a Single Ketamine Infusion

    Symptomatology and Predictors of Antidepressant Efficacy in Extended Responders to a Single Ketamine Infusion

    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 during the infusion and a history of alcohol use in first-degree relatives predicted an extended response to ketamine.

    [button url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27839782″]Read Full Article Here[/button]

  • Ketamine: 50 Years of Modulating the Mind

    Ketamine: 50 Years of Modulating the Mind

    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. Emerging evidence indicates that ketamine-mediated anesthesia may occur via disruption of corticocortical information transfer in a frontal-to-parietal (“top down”) distribution. This proposed mechanism of general anesthesia has since been demonstrated with anesthetics in other pharmacological classes as well. Ketamine remains invaluable to the fields of anesthesiology and critical care medicine, in large part due to its ability to maintain cardiorespiratory stability while providing effective sedation and analgesia. Furthermore, there may be an emerging role for ketamine in treatment of refractory depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In this article, we review the history of ketamine, its pharmacology, putative mechanisms of action and current clinical applications.

    [button url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5126726/”]Read the Full Article Here[/button]

  • Ketamine Administration in Depressive Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

    Ketamine Administration in Depressive Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

    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 (ECT) for resistant depression (ECT studies). Secondary outcomes were the duration of ketamine’s effect, the efficacy on suicidal ideations, the existence of a dose effect, and the safety/tolerance of the treatment.

    [button url=”https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25038867″]Read the Full Article Here[/button]

  • Should Anesthesiologists Administer Ketamine – SoCal PBS Interview Part 2

    Should Anesthesiologists Administer Ketamine – SoCal PBS Interview Part 2

    Excerpts of PBS SoCal show on the drug ketamine for the treatment of depression.

     

  • New Mechanisms Elicited with Ketamine in Treatment-Resistant Depression

    New Mechanisms Elicited with Ketamine in Treatment-Resistant 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)

  • Ketamine Acts as Antidepressant by Boosting Serotonin

    Ketamine Acts as Antidepressant by Boosting Serotonin

    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.

    [button url=”https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140107102442.htm”]Read the Full Story Here[/button]

  • How Depression and Antidepressant Drugs Work

    How Depression and Antidepressant Drugs Work

    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 in the research mice results from the reduction of both GABA and glutamate, and importantly, that both can be restored with a single dose of ketamine.

    [button url=”https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160518165254.htm”]Read Full Article Here[/button]

  • Intravenous Ketamine May Rapidly Reduce Suicidal Thinking in Depressed Patients

    Intravenous Ketamine May Rapidly Reduce Suicidal Thinking in Depressed Patients

    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.

    [button url=”https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160510134545.htm”]Read the Full Article Here[/button]

  • From Drug of Abuse to a Glimpse Into Depression

    From Drug of Abuse to a Glimpse Into Depression

    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.

    [button url=”https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160518153407.htm”]Read Full Article Here[/button]

  • Ketamine Lifts Depression via a Byproduct of its Metabolism

    Ketamine Lifts Depression via a Byproduct of its Metabolism

    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 discovery fundamentally changes scientists’ understanding of how this rapid antidepressant mechanism works and holds promise for improved treatments.

    [button url=”https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/05/160504141131.htm”]Read Full Article Here[/button]

error: Content is protected !!