Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25426012›Full record

ArticleCurrent neuropharmacology2014

The role of ketamine in treatment-resistant depression: a systematic review.

Gianluca Serafini, Robert H Howland, Fabiana Rovedi, Paolo Girardi, Mario Amore

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Current neuropharmacology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 106 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
106citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
12.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

106 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 231 citations in OpenAlex.

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  7. Pharmacological Augmentation in Unipolar Depression: A Guide to the Guidelines.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2020
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  11. Modulation of early non-rapid eye movement slow wave activity by ketamine in treatment-resistant depression.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
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  12. REM density predicts rapid antidepressant response to ketamine in individuals with treatment-resistant depression.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
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  16. Inflammation and treatment strategies for suicidal behavior.The world journal of biological psychiatry : the official journal of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry · 2026
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46 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Gianluca SerafiniDepartment of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs - Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
Robert H HowlandUniversity of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Fabiana RovediDepartment of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs - Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
Paolo GirardiDepartment of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs - Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
Mario AmoreDepartment of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health, Section of Psychiatry, University of Genova, Genova, Italy.
Sapienza University of Rome · ITAzienda Ospedaliera Sant'Andrea · ITUniversity of Genoa · ITUniversity of Pittsburgh · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAt least 10-20% of the patients suffering from depression meet criteria for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). In the last decades, an important role of glutamate in mood modulation has been hypothesized and ketamine, a non noncompetitive antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, has been demonstrated to be effective in both MDD and TRD. However, concerns emerged about the optimal dosage, and frequency of administration of this treatment.

methodsaiming to systematically review the current literature focusing on the main pharmacological properties and impact of ketamine in TRD, a detailed literature search in PubMed/Medline and ScienceDirect databases was conducted. Twenty-four manuscripts including a total of 416 patients fulfilled inclusion criteria.

resultsMost studies demonstrated that the NMDA antagonist ketamine has rapid antidepressant effects in TRD patients, confirming the active role of glutamate in the pathophysiology of this complex condition. Ketamine has been demonstrated to be rapidly effective and was associated with a significant clinical improvement in depressive symptoms within hours after administration. Also, ketamine was also found to be effective in reducing suicidality in TRD samples. LIMITATIONS: The long-term efficacy of ketamine has not been investigated by most studies. The psychotomimetic properties may complicate the application of this pharmacological agent.

conclusionsKetamine may be considered a valid and intriguing antidepressant option for the treatment of TRD. Further studies are needed to evaluate its long-term antidepressant efficacy in patients with TRD.

Indexed as

Antidepressant effectketamineNMDA receptorspharmacological propertiestreatment-resistant depression.

Identifiers

PMID25426012
PMCPMC4243034
OpenAlexW2057804290

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.