Therapeutic potential of ketamine for alcohol use disorder.
Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews July 1, 2021 Stephen D Worrell, Thomas J Gould 47 citations
Excessive alcohol consumption contributes to one in ten deaths of U.S. working-age adults and costs the country about $250 million yearly. Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) involves changes in synaptic plasticity, hippocampal neurogenesis, and neural connectivity. Depressed mood and stress are major relapse determinants, and AUD frequently co-occurs with depression and stress disorders. Current medications (disulfiram, naltrexone, acamprosate) have limitations. Ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist used in anesthesia, affects neurotransmitter systems, synaptic plasticity, neurogenesis, and neural connectivity. It has strong support for treating depression and stress disorders like PTSD, and preliminary evidence for treating substance use disorders. This review explores behavioral and neural evidence for ketamine therapy in AUD.