International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
March 26, 2023
T. Su, Cheng-Ta Li, Wei-Chen Lin et al.
48 citations
A single low-dose ketamine infusion (0.5 mg/kg) produces an antidepressant effect lasting up to 14 days in outpatients with treatment-resistant depression and prominent suicidal thoughts, compared with a low-dose midazolam control. The antisuicidal effect, however, persists only 5 days. The benefits are most pronounced in patients whose current depressive episode has lasted less than 24 months or who have failed four or fewer prior antidepressants. The treatment is safe and well tolerated.
Journal of Psychiatric Research
July 1, 2023
Mu-Hong Chen, Wei-Chen Lin, Cheng-Ta Li et al.
8 citations
In patients with treatment-resistant depression and strong suicidal thoughts, a single low-dose infusion of ketamine did not change blood levels of two proteins—VEGF and MMP-9—compared to a control drug, midazolam. However, patients who had higher VEGF levels before treatment showed greater improvements in depression and suicidal ideation after ketamine. This suggests that baseline VEGF might help predict who will benefit from ketamine, but the drug itself does not alter these protein levels.
Journal of Affective Disorders
August 1, 2023
Mu-Hong Chen, Ya-Mei Bai, Hui-Ju Wu et al.
7 citations
A single low-dose ketamine infusion (0.5 mg/kg) compared to a low-dose midazolam control (0.045 mg/kg) resulted in higher serum levels of the anti-aging hormone klotho three days after treatment in 48 patients with treatment-resistant depression and strong suicidal ideation. However, ketamine did not significantly increase klotho levels from baseline, and changes in klotho were not associated with changes in depressive or suicidal symptoms. Higher baseline klotho levels predicted a poorer antidepressant response to ketamine. The findings suggest klotho may be involved in ketamine's antidepressant mechanism, but further molecular studies are needed.
The Journal of clinical psychiatry
July 8, 2024
Wei-Chen Lin, Mu-Hong Chen, Tung-Ping Su et al.
4 citations
A single low-dose infusion of ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) briefly reduces hopelessness and later lowers suicidal ideation in people with treatment-resistant depression and strong suicidal thoughts. In a randomized trial of 84 patients, those receiving ketamine showed significantly less hopelessness four hours after infusion compared with those receiving a control drug (midazolam). Two days after infusion, the ketamine group had more positive and fewer negative suicidal thoughts. The early drop in hopelessness predicted the later antisuicidal effect. The antihopelessness effect lasted only about four hours, while the antisuicidal effect appeared on the second day.
Pharmacopsychiatry
December 20, 2024
Mu-Hong Chen, Tung-Ping Su, Wei-Chen Lin et al.
1 citation
Low-grade inflammation (LGI) is linked to poor response to standard antidepressants, but its role in ketamine treatment for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) was unclear. In 167 patients with TRD, 46 had LGI (C-reactive protein ≥3 mg/L) and 121 did not. A single low-dose ketamine infusion improved depressive symptoms only in patients without LGI, showing no significant antidepressant effect in those with LGI. However, ketamine reduced suicidal thoughts in both groups. The placebo response was notably greater in patients with LGI, which may explain the lack of observed ketamine effect in that group. Further research is needed to confirm these findings.
Pharmacopsychiatry
February 26, 2026
Ping-Chung Wu, Wei-Chen Lin, Tung-Ping Su et al.
A combination of clinical markers better predicts which patients with treatment-resistant depression and suicidal thoughts will respond rapidly and durably to a single low-dose ketamine infusion than any single marker alone. The markers include mild or moderate depression severity, a shorter current episode, no more than four prior antidepressant failures, low or moderate current suicide risk, and a history of suicide attempts. The analysis of 67 patients from previous trials used a decision-tree model to identify these predictors. Clinicians can use these findings to select patients most likely to benefit, though further confirmation is needed.
The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology
February 1, 2025
Hui-Ju Wu, *Mu-Hong Chen, Wei-Chen Lin
People with treatment-resistant depression have higher blood levels of neurofilament light chain (NFL), a marker of nerve cell damage, than healthy individuals. Among 71 patients with treatment-resistant depression randomly assigned to receive a single low-dose infusion of ketamine (0.5 mg/kg, 0.2 mg/kg) or placebo, higher baseline NFL concentrations were linked to worse depressive symptoms afterward, as measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. This suggests that NFL levels might help predict how well someone will respond to low-dose ketamine treatment for depression.