Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35546951›Full record

SynthesisFrontiers in psychiatry2022

The Mechanisms Behind Rapid Antidepressant Effects of Ketamine: A Systematic Review With a Focus on Molecular Neuroplasticity.

Melody J Y Kang, Emily Hawken, Gustavo Hector Vazquez

2 registry-linked trialsOpen access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 35 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
35citing papers in PubMed
9.7field-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.

NCT06620276 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder and Comorbid Treatment-Resistant Depression Who Are Undergoing Ketamine Intervention: A Feasibility Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorCentre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)Ran2025 to 2028Enrolled30ConditionsDepression - Major Depressive Disorder, Alcohol Use DisorderArmsAcceptance and Commitment Therapy, Ketamine
NCT06821087 phase2completednot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Evaluating the Neuromodulatory Effect of Ketamine in Long COVID: A Pilot Study Targeting Fatigue and Neurocognitive Symptoms

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of Texas at AustinRan2025 to 2026Enrolled20ConditionsLong COVIDArmsKetamine only
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

35 citing papers in PubMed, 61 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Anxiety and depression in emerging adults: The STAND program as a model of scalable screening and intervention.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Review
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Review
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

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Melody J Y KangCenter of Neuroscience Studies (CNS), Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Emily HawkenDepartment of Psychiatry, Queen's University School of Medicine, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Gustavo Hector VazquezCenter of Neuroscience Studies (CNS), Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Queen's University · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The mechanism of action underlying ketamine's rapid antidepressant effects in patients with depression, both suffering from major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD), including treatment resistant depression (TRD), remains unclear. Of the many speculated routes that ketamine may act through, restoring deficits in neuroplasticity may be the most parsimonious mechanism in both human patients and preclinical models of depression. Here, we conducted a literature search using PubMed for any reports of ketamine inducing neuroplasticity relevant to depression, to identify cellular and molecular events, relevant to neuroplasticity, immediately observed with rapid mood improvements in humans or antidepressant-like effects in animals. After screening reports using our inclusion/exclusion criteria, 139 publications with data from cell cultures, animal models, and patients with BD or MDD were included (registered on PROSPERO, ID: CRD42019123346). We found accumulating evidence to support that ketamine induces an increase in molecules involved in modulating neuroplasticity, and that these changes are paired with rapid antidepressant effects. Molecules or complexes of high interest include glutamate, AMPA receptors (AMPAR), mTOR, BDNF/TrkB, VGF, eEF2K, p70S6K, GSK-3, IGF2, Erk, and microRNAs. In summary, these studies suggest a robust relationship between improvements in mood, and ketamine-induced increases in molecular neuroplasticity, particularly regarding intracellular signaling molecules.

Indexed as

bipolar disorderketaminemajor depressive disordermechanism of actionneuroplasticityrapid antidepressant effectstreatment-resistant depression

Identifiers

PMID35546951
PMCPMC9082546
OpenAlexW4224605636

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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.