Trial reportPsychopharmacology2025
Immediate effects of propofol on mood: a randomized comparison of two doses in a cohort with depression.
Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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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
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effects of Single Bolus Exposure to Propofol on Depression-like Behavior in a Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress Model in Mice.Anesthesiology · 2026Article
- Long-term risk of depression after sevoflurane versus propofol anesthesia: a global propensity score-matched cohort study.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Propofol for depression: mechanisms and therapeutic potential.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Review
- Immaturity-Dependent Hippocampal Neurogenic Promotion and Fate Shift by Low-Dose Propofol in Neonatal Mice Revealed Through Single-Nuclei RNA-Sequencing.Biomedicines · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleThe intravenous anesthetic propofol is known to induce positive mood effects during routine clinical use, suggesting it might be repurposed as an antidepressant, but also raising concerns about abuse potential. How propofol's acute effects vary by dose and with repeated infusions is unknown.
objectivesThis exploratory analysis aimed to (1) compare the immediate mood effects of propofol administered at two different doses, (2) describe how those mood effects change with repeated infusions, and (3) evaluate whether acute mood improvement predicts later antidepressant response.
methodsTwenty-four adults with moderate-to-severe treatment-resistant depression were randomized into two dosing groups. Six low- or high-dose propofol infusions were administered under blinded conditions over a two-week period. Self-reported mood states were recorded before and after each infusion using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS-X). Abuse potential was evaluated with the Drug Effects Questionnaire (DEQ-5).
resultsAt the first infusion, propofol induced acute improvements in PANAS-X Sadness, Fear, Joviality, and Serenity scales (p < 0.002), independent of dose. Over the series of six infusions, acute changes in Sadness, Fear, and Joviality, but not Serenity, diminished with infusion number (p < 0.002). The DEQ-5 "want more" rating decreased across infusions (p = 0.002). Changes in PANAS-X scales with the first infusion did not predict later improvement in depression severity (p > 0.05).
conclusionCumulative changes in mood states observed with repeated infusions suggest that propofol engages adaptive mechanisms in mood circuitry. Subjective responses with repeated infusions do not indicate increasing potential for abuse in this patient population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
39417860What 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.