Whole blood transcriptional signatures associated with rapid antidepressant response to ketamine in patients with treatment resistant depression
Translational Psychiatry January 10, 2022 F. Cathomas, L. Bevilacqua, Aarthi Ramakrishnan et al. 44 citations
Ketamine rapidly and lastingly reduces depression in people with treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but how it works remains unclear. TRD is linked to inflammation, and ketamine may curb inflammatory processes. Whole blood gene expression was compared between 21 healthy controls and 26 TRD patients, and again in TRD patients 24 hours after a single ketamine infusion. Before treatment, TRD patients showed activation of interferon signaling pathways. Among TRD patients, those who later responded to ketamine had higher levels of two glutamate receptor genes (GRM2 and GRIN2D) before the infusion. Ketamine response produced a distinct gene expression signature, but no evidence of anti-inflammatory changes was found. More research is needed on the peripheral immune system's role.