Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 16, 2026
07:52
Remote Limb Ischemic Preconditioning: A Neuroprotective Technique in Rodents
Published on: June 2, 2015
12.9K
Does ketamine have anti-suicidal properties? Current status and future directions
Rebecca B Price1, Sanjay J Mathew
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 3811 O'Hara St., Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA, rebecca.price@stanfordalumni.org.
CNS Drugs
|February 27, 2015
Summary
Ketamine shows rapid antidepressant effects within 24 hours, offering potential for treating depression and suicidal ideation. Further research is needed to confirm its specific anti-suicidal benefits and long-term efficacy.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Ketamine, an anesthetic, is being explored for rapid antidepressant and anti-suicidal effects.
- Existing depression treatments lack the rapid onset of ketamine.
- Significant questions remain regarding ketamine's efficacy and application for suicidality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current evidence on ketamine's rapid effects on suicidal ideation in depression.
- To discuss future research directions for ketamine as a suicide prevention therapy.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing scientific literature on ketamine's effects on depression and suicidality.
- Analysis of the rapid time course of ketamine's antidepressant action.
Main Results:
- Ketamine demonstrates rapid antidepressant effects, peaking 24 hours post-infusion.
- Evidence suggests potential for ketamine in managing suicidal ideation in unipolar and bipolar depression.
Conclusions:
- Ketamine's rapid action presents a promising avenue for life-saving suicide intervention.
- Further research is crucial to establish specific anti-suicidal effects, long-term benefits, and underlying mechanisms before clinical adoption.
Related Concept Videos
01:24Parenteral Anesthetics: Overview
968
Intravenous anesthetics are drugs administered parenterally to induce anesthesia or sedation. Propofol is a widely used agent formulated as a 1% emulsion in soybean oil, glycerol, and egg phosphatide. It induces rapid anesthesia primarily due to its rapid distribution from the bloodstream to target tissues and is metabolized in the liver. However, it can cause significant pain on injection and hypertriglyceridemia. Fospropofol, a water-based prodrug of propofol, lacks these adverse effects.
968
01:17Sedatives and Hypnotics Drugs: Miscellaneous Agents
939
Sedatives and hypnotics encompass a wide range of substances, each with its unique mechanism of action, uses, and potential adverse effects.
Melatonin congeners like ramelteon (Rozerem) and tasimelteon (Hetlioz) selectively bind to melatonin receptors (MT1 and MT2) and thus mimic the actions of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles. Tasimelteon is primarily used for non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder, common in blind patients. They are also used to treat conditions like insomnia...
Melatonin congeners like ramelteon (Rozerem) and tasimelteon (Hetlioz) selectively bind to melatonin receptors (MT1 and MT2) and thus mimic the actions of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles. Tasimelteon is primarily used for non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder, common in blind patients. They are also used to treat conditions like insomnia...
939
01:19Depolarizing Blockers: Pharmocokinetics
744
Depolarizing blockers are administered through intravenous injection. Succinylcholine is the most common choice of depolarizing blockers in emergency clinical practices. Although they have a rapid onset, they readily diffuse away from the motor end plate into the extracellular fluid. They are metabolized by enzymes such as liver butyrylcholinesterase and plasma pseudocholinesterases. This produces a short duration of action, typically 5-10 minutes long, unlike nondepolarizing blockers, which...
744
01:30Electroconvulsive Therapy
2.3K
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), or shock therapy, remains a critical biomedical intervention for severe, treatment-resistant depression. While its origins can be traced back to Hippocrates' observations that malaria-induced convulsions alleviated mental illness, modern ECT has evolved significantly from its earlier, more primitive applications. First introduced in 1938 by Ugo Cerletti and his colleagues, ECT involves inducing controlled seizures using electrical currents. In its early...
2.3K
01:28Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting: Neurokinin-1 Receptor Antagonists
785
Neurokinin 1 (NK1) receptors are distributed across the GI tract, vagal afferents, and key CNS regions including the central vomiting center and chemoreceptor trigger zone (CTZ) Chemotherapy agents stimulate enterochromaffin cells in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract to release large amounts of substance P (SP). SP is a neuropeptide released by specific sensory nerves in response to many different stressors, including those in the GI mucosa affected by chemotherapy. SP binds and activates...
785
01:20Sedatives and Hypnotics Drugs: Barbiturates
1.5K
Sedatives and hypnotics encompass a drug class that acts on the central nervous system (CNS) to alleviate anxiety, promote relaxation and induce sleep.These drugs function by amplifying the actions of the neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), resulting in reduced neuronal activity. Barbiturates, a subset of sedatives and hypnotics first synthesized in the late 1800s, are categorized into ultra-short, short, intermediate, and long-acting groups based on their duration of effect. A...
1.5K