Lack of relationships between ketamine treatment and peripheral neurotrophic and inflammatory factors in a randomized controlled ketamine trial of major depressive disorder.
Brain, behavior, and immunity April 4, 2025 Manivel Rengasamy, Benjamin Panny, Zakary Hutchinson et al. 3 citations
In adults with treatment-resistant depression, a single ketamine infusion did not produce detectable changes in blood markers of neurotrophic and inflammatory factors compared with a saline placebo, nor were those markers linked to depression improvement over five days. Among 133 participants, only one subgroup—those with a body-mass index below 25—showed an association: rising levels of interleukin-1 receptor antagonist in the first day after ketamine correlated with less reduction in depression symptoms. The results do not support the idea that peripheral neurotrophic or inflammatory factors mediate ketamine's rapid antidepressant effects, though central nervous system activity may still be involved.