Personalized use of ketamine and esketamine for treatment-resistant depression

Abstract A large and disproportionate portion of the burden associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) is due to treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Intravenous (R,S)-ketamine (ketamine) and intranasal (S)-ketamine (esketamine) are rapid-acting antidepressants that can effectively treat TRD....

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Main Authors: Gustavo C. Medeiros, Isabella Demo, Fernando S. Goes, Carlos A. Zarate, Todd D. Gould
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2024-11-01
Series:Translational Psychiatry
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-024-03180-8
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author Gustavo C. Medeiros
Isabella Demo
Fernando S. Goes
Carlos A. Zarate
Todd D. Gould
author_facet Gustavo C. Medeiros
Isabella Demo
Fernando S. Goes
Carlos A. Zarate
Todd D. Gould
author_sort Gustavo C. Medeiros
collection DOAJ
description Abstract A large and disproportionate portion of the burden associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) is due to treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Intravenous (R,S)-ketamine (ketamine) and intranasal (S)-ketamine (esketamine) are rapid-acting antidepressants that can effectively treat TRD. However, there is variability in response to ketamine/esketamine, and a personalized approach to their use will increase success rates in the treatment of TRD. There is a growing literature on the precision use of ketamine in TRD, and the body of evidence on esketamine is still relatively small. The identification of reliable predictors of response to ketamine/esketamine that are easily translatable to clinical practice is urgently needed. Potential clinical predictors of a robust response to ketamine include a pre-treatment positive family history of alcohol use disorder and a pre-treatment positive history of clinically significant childhood trauma. Pre-treatment versus post-treatment increases in gamma power in frontoparietal brain regions, observed in electroencephalogram (EEG) studies, is a promising brain-based biomarker of response to ketamine, given its time of onset and general applicability. Blood-based biomarkers have shown limited usefulness, with small-effect increases in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) being the most consistent indicator of ketamine response. The severity of treatment-emergent dissociative symptoms is typically not associated with a response either to ketamine or esketamine. Future studies should ensure that biomarkers and clinical variables are obtained in a similar manner across studies to allow appropriate comparison across trials and to reduce the signal-to-noise ratio. Most predictors of response to ketamine/esketamine have modest effect sizes; therefore, the use of multivariate predictive models will be needed.
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spelling doaj-art-2862dff8a80c4f61ac20cdcaad3bc20d2025-08-20T02:49:09ZengNature Publishing GroupTranslational Psychiatry2158-31882024-11-0114111110.1038/s41398-024-03180-8Personalized use of ketamine and esketamine for treatment-resistant depressionGustavo C. Medeiros0Isabella Demo1Fernando S. Goes2Carlos A. Zarate3Todd D. Gould4Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of MedicineDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of MedicineDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of MedicineExperimental Therapeutics & Pathophysiology Branch, Intramural Research Program, NIMH-NIHDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of MedicineAbstract A large and disproportionate portion of the burden associated with major depressive disorder (MDD) is due to treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Intravenous (R,S)-ketamine (ketamine) and intranasal (S)-ketamine (esketamine) are rapid-acting antidepressants that can effectively treat TRD. However, there is variability in response to ketamine/esketamine, and a personalized approach to their use will increase success rates in the treatment of TRD. There is a growing literature on the precision use of ketamine in TRD, and the body of evidence on esketamine is still relatively small. The identification of reliable predictors of response to ketamine/esketamine that are easily translatable to clinical practice is urgently needed. Potential clinical predictors of a robust response to ketamine include a pre-treatment positive family history of alcohol use disorder and a pre-treatment positive history of clinically significant childhood trauma. Pre-treatment versus post-treatment increases in gamma power in frontoparietal brain regions, observed in electroencephalogram (EEG) studies, is a promising brain-based biomarker of response to ketamine, given its time of onset and general applicability. Blood-based biomarkers have shown limited usefulness, with small-effect increases in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) being the most consistent indicator of ketamine response. The severity of treatment-emergent dissociative symptoms is typically not associated with a response either to ketamine or esketamine. Future studies should ensure that biomarkers and clinical variables are obtained in a similar manner across studies to allow appropriate comparison across trials and to reduce the signal-to-noise ratio. Most predictors of response to ketamine/esketamine have modest effect sizes; therefore, the use of multivariate predictive models will be needed.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-024-03180-8
spellingShingle Gustavo C. Medeiros
Isabella Demo
Fernando S. Goes
Carlos A. Zarate
Todd D. Gould
Personalized use of ketamine and esketamine for treatment-resistant depression
Translational Psychiatry
title Personalized use of ketamine and esketamine for treatment-resistant depression
title_full Personalized use of ketamine and esketamine for treatment-resistant depression
title_fullStr Personalized use of ketamine and esketamine for treatment-resistant depression
title_full_unstemmed Personalized use of ketamine and esketamine for treatment-resistant depression
title_short Personalized use of ketamine and esketamine for treatment-resistant depression
title_sort personalized use of ketamine and esketamine for treatment resistant depression
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-024-03180-8
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