SynthesisJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2021
Ketamine's effect on inflammation and kynurenine pathway in depression: A systematic review.
Synthesis in Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06821087 (Evaluating the Neuromodulatory Effect of Ketamine in Long COVID), which is not on this map. Cited by 48 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Evaluating the Neuromodulatory Effect of Ketamine in Long COVID: A Pilot Study Targeting Fatigue and Neurocognitive Symptoms
Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 78 citations in OpenAlex.
- Appetite measures as correlates of clinical response in mood disorders treated with ketamine: systematic review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Antidepressant Effect of Ketamine on Inflammation-Mediated Cytokine Dysregulation in Adults with Treatment-Resistant Depression: Rapid Systematic Review.Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of esketamine on postoperative analgesia and postoperative delirium in elderly patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery.BMC anesthesiology · 2024Trial
- The interaction between kynurenine pathway, suicidal ideation and augmentation therapy with minocycline in patients with treatment-resistant depression.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2023Trial
- TNF-dependent regulation of synaptic plasticity and neuronal activity: implications for psychiatric disorders.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Pleiotropic modulation of the gut-brain-lung axis by ketamine and its enantiomers.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Candidate Biomarkers of Bipolar Disorder Progression: Implications for Ketamine and Psychedelic Interventions.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Brain-targeted epigenetic effects of two emerging psychoplastogens: ketamine & MDMA.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Neuroinflammatory Mechanisms in Depression: From Biomarkers to Anti-Inflammatory Therapy.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- 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 · 2026Review
- Sedation as an Immunomodulator of Inflammatory Responses in the Lung-Brain Axis of ARDS.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Differential alterations in peripheral tryptophan pathways in methamphetamine versus MDMA users are linked to their contrasting psychiatric symptoms.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- The HPA axis and kynurenine pathway: exploring the role of stress and neuroinflammation in treatment-resistant depression.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2026Review
- Contextual Regulation of the Kynurenine Pathway and Its Relevance for Personalized Psychiatry.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Review
- Chronic Inflammation and Neuroprogression in the Pathophysiology in Major Depression.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- The kynurenine pathway in depression and schizophrenia: convergent signals, divergent states, and clinical signatures.EXCLI journal · 2026Review
- Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Chronic High-Dose Ketamine-Induced Apoptosis in the Hippocampus: A Narrative Review.Neurochemical research · 2025Review
- Dependence of psychopharmacological drug effects on early social stress experience: An analysis aligned with the research domain criteria framework.The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics · 2025Review
- Mechanism of antidepressant action of ketamine and differences between its two enantiomers.Journal of anesthesia and translational medicine · 2025Review
- Modulation of neuroimmune cytokine networks by antidepressants: implications in mood regulation.Translational psychiatry · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundKetamine is a novel rapid-acting antidepressant with high efficacy in treatment-resistant patients. Its exact therapeutic mechanisms of action are unclear; however, in recent years its anti-inflammatory properties and subsequent downstream effects on tryptophan (TRP) metabolism have sparked research interest.
aimThis systematic review examined the effect of ketamine on inflammatory markers and TRP-kynurenine (KYN) pathway metabolites in patients with unipolar and bipolar depression and in animal models of depression.
methodsMEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO databases were searched on October 2020 (1806 to 2020).
resultsOut of 807 initial results, nine human studies and 22 animal studies on rodents met the inclusion criteria. Rodent studies provided strong support for ketamine-induced decreases in pro-inflammatory cytokines, namely in interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and indicated anti-inflammatory effects on TRP metabolism, including decreases in the enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO). Clinical evidence was less robust with high heterogeneity between sample characteristics, but most experiments demonstrated decreases in peripheral inflammation including in IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. Preliminary support was also found for reduced activation of the neurotoxic arm of the KYN pathway.
conclusionKetamine appears to induce anti-inflammatory effects in at least a proportion of depressed patients. Suggestions for future research include investigation of markers in the central nervous system and examination of clinical relevance of inflammatory changes.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.