Journal of Neuroinflammation
September 15, 2021
Yanling Zhou, Chengyu Wang, Xiaofeng Lan et al.
61 citations
Patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) who also experience pain show a higher antidepressant response rate and remission rate after six infusions of ketamine compared to those without pain. Before treatment, levels of inflammatory cytokines GM-CSF and IL-6 were elevated in the pain group. After ketamine, many inflammatory cytokines decreased in the pain group, while only TNF-α decreased in the non-pain group. Changes in IL-6 were linked to improvements in both pain intensity and depressive symptoms. The findings suggest that elevated inflammation contributes to individual differences in TRD patients with and without pain, and ketamine's antidepressant and analgesic effects may involve modulating inflammation.
European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists
April 4, 2024
Haiyan Liu, Chengyu Wang, Xiaofeng Lan et al.
7 citations
Abnormal connectivity between a specific amygdala subregion (the left laterobasal amygdala) and the left precuneus in people with major depressive disorder is linked to how well ketamine treatment works. After six doses of ketamine (0.5 mg/kg), differences in connectivity changes between responders and nonresponders appeared in the bilateral centromedial amygdala with the left orbital part of the superior frontal gyrus and in the left laterobasal amygdala with the right middle frontal gyrus. A baseline difference in connectivity between the left laterobasal amygdala and the right superior/middle temporal gyrus predicted the antidepressant effect on Day 13, suggesting that ketamine may improve symptoms by regulating amygdala subregion networks.
Translational psychiatry
August 6, 2024
Chengyu Wang, Xiaofeng Lan, Weijian Liu et al.
6 citations
Non-improvement after four ketamine infusions, or three consecutive non-improvements after three infusions, reliably predicts overall non-response to a six-dose course of intravenous ketamine for depression. Among 135 individuals with major depressive or bipolar disorder in a current depressive episode, sensitivities for predicting non-response exceeded 90% using these early non-improvement criteria. Those who did not improve by these points showed no significant reduction in depressive symptoms from subsequent infusions. The findings suggest that early non-improvement can guide clinicians to discontinue treatment, avoiding ineffective continued dosing.
CNS neuroscience & therapeutics
March 1, 2025
Zerui You, Xiaofeng Lan, Chengyu Wang et al.
1 citation
Ketamine improves depressive symptoms in major depressive disorder by altering energy metabolism, including changes in adenosine triphosphate, adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and pyruvate. The shift in ADP levels strongly correlated with reductions in depression severity scores. Lower baseline levels of free triiodothyronine (FT3) predicted a better response to ketamine, suggesting FT3 may serve as a biological marker for treatment efficacy. These findings come from a study of 40 patients in a discovery cohort and 24 in a validation cohort, using metabolomic analysis of serum samples.
Cell biology and toxicology
January 10, 2025
Nan Zhou, Xiaolei Shi, Runhua Wang et al.
1 citation
Plasma proteomic analysis of 30 major depressive disorder patients before and after two weeks of ketamine treatment identified six proteins pivotal to the drug's antidepressive effect. Immune-response pathways were activated in association with symptom relief. Three pre-treatment proteins strongly predicted which patients would respond to ketamine, offering a potential blood test to personalize treatment.
Current neuropharmacology
January 1, 2025
Wei Zheng, Limei Gu, Jianqiang Tan et al.
1 citation
Repeated intravenous ketamine infusions rapidly reduce anhedonia in both younger and older adults with major depressive episodes, but older patients show a weaker response. In a study of 135 patients (116 younger, 19 older) receiving six ketamine infusions over 12 days, anhedonia scores dropped significantly in both age groups within 4 hours of the first infusion, with effects maintained throughout treatment. By day 26, younger patients had lower anhedonia scores than older patients. The antianhedonic response rate was 51.7% in younger patients versus 31.6% in older patients, and remission occurred in 24.1% of younger patients but none of the older patients.