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| Dr. Lisa Monteggio |
Scientists have long studied the benefits of using the party drug ketamine as a treatment for depression, and a team of researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center revealed new insights that show the drug's potential as a rapid-acting therapy for patients who do not respond to traditional medication.
Researchers found that blocking NMDA glutamate receptors with ketamine could quickly produce antidepressant effects in individuals with treatment-resistant depression. In the past, scientists investigated memantine--an FDA-approved drug for treating moderate to severe Alzheimer's--as a viable therapy for patients. But while memantine acts on the same brain receptors as ketamine, it does not hold the same fast-acting potential, said Dr. Lisa Monteggio, professor of Neuroscience at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
"Although both ketamine and memantine have similar actions when nerve cells are active, under resting conditions, memantine is less effective in blocking nerve cell communication compared to ketamine," Monteggio said. "This fundamental difference in their action could explain why memantine has not been effective as a rapid antidepressant."
The research adds to a mounting body of evidence points to ketamine--or "Special K" as it's known in party circles--as a rapid-acting treatment for depression. In April, investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai said that they developed a low-dose, intranasal formulation of the drug that improved symptoms in a small group of patients suffering from treatment responsive major depression disorder.
Earlier that month, the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust also presented study results in favor of ketamine. Researchers treated 28 severely depressed patients with low doses of ketamine, and found that 8 showed an improvement and that four improved so much, they were no longer classified as depressed.
Still, much remains in the way of research and development before ketamine reaches it full treatment potential. The drug includes serious side effects like hallucinations, and new therapies for depression are often associated with high placebo effects.
Last year, scientists from the University of Chicago identified a new type of antidepressant therapeutic that selectively blocks a serotonin receptor subtype to provide fast-acting relief in mice. The biological mechanism could stand as a safe alternative to ketamine and scopolamine as a rapid-acting depression treatment.
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