ReviewNeuroscience and biobehavioral reviews2022
The opioid system in depression.
Review in Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 5 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 87 citations in OpenAlex.
- Is the antidepressant efficacy of ketamine and esketamine mediated via opioid mechanisms?European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026Pooled it
- Genetic variation associated with depression in Latin American populations: a systematic review of single-nucleotide variants.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Nitrous oxide for the treatment of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.EBioMedicine · 2025Pooled it
- Depressive disorders: systematic review of approved psychiatric medications (2009-April 2025) and pipeline phase 3 medications.BMC psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- The efficacy and tolerability of inhaled nitrous oxide in major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychopharmacology · 2023Pooled it
- Effect of naltrexone pretreatment on ketamine-induced glutamatergic activity and symptoms of depression: a randomized crossover study.Nature medicine · 2025Trial
- Effects of hydromorphone-based patient-controlled intravenous analgesia on postpartum depression after cesarean section: a prospective randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Trial
- Navacaprant, a Novel and Highly Selective Kappa Opioid Receptor Antagonist, in Adults With Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized, Double-Blind Phase 2 Clinical Trial.Journal of clinical psychopharmacologyTrial
- Structural basis of opioid receptor activation by PCP and ketamine.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2026Article
- Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in Adolescents With Major Depressive Disorder: The Role of Beta-Endorphin, Psychological Pain, and Anhedonia.Alpha psychiatry · 2026Article
- Delta-opioid receptor-mediated neural protection and regeneration.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- Depression in Opioid Use Disorder: A Tripartite Psychopathological Model for Dual Disorders.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Emerging Molecular Targets and Recent Advancements for the Management of Depression.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Samidorphan sadness: does the addition of samidorphan to olanzapine have prodepressive effects?International clinical psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- The combination of exercise and psychedelics for the treatment of major depressive disorder.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- Neurotransmitter-based machine-learning model for distinguishing Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment.The Journal of international medical research · 2026Article
- Progress in the Application of Esketamine During the Perioperative Period.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Review
- Network pharmacology of cellular targets in major depressive disorder and differential mechanisms of fluoxetine, ketamine and esketamine.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2026Article
- The delta-opioid receptor: a therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Review
- Anxiolytic and antidepressant effects of astaxanthin: behavioral and mechanistic insights in a rat model.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
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 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Opioid receptors are widely distributed throughout the brain and play an essential role in modulating aspects of human mood, reward, and well-being. Accumulating evidence indicates the endogenous opioid system is dysregulated in depression and that pharmacological modulators of mu, delta, and kappa opioid receptors hold potential for the treatment of depression. Here we review animal and clinical data, highlighting evidence to support: dysregulation of the opioid system in depression, evidence for opioidergic modulation of behavioural processes and brain regions associated with depression, and evidence for opioidergic modulation in antidepressant responses. We evaluate clinical trials that have examined the safety and efficacy of opioidergic agents in depression and consider how the opioid system may be involved in the effects of other treatments, including ketamine, that are currently understood to exert antidepressant effects through non-opioidergic actions. Finally, we explore key neurochemical and molecular mechanisms underlying the potential therapeutic effects of opioid system engagement, that together provides a rationale for further investigation into this relevant target in the treatment of depression.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.