The American journal of psychiatry

How Opioid Systems Influence Ketamine’s Effects on Brain Blood Flow in Major Depression

Updated

Abstract

Ketamine significantly increased blood flow in key brain regions associated with depression, with effects not influenced by naltrexone.

  • Ketamine elevated blood flow in the subgenual, pregenual, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortices.
  • Under placebo, increased blood flow in the pregenual region correlated with subjective effects of ketamine.
  • Blood flow in the subgenual region was linked to early antidepressant response on day 1.
  • Naltrexone pretreatment disrupted the relationships between blood flow and subjective or clinical outcomes.
  • Ketamine-induced blood flow changes corresponded with specific receptor profiles, indicating complex interactions among neurotransmitter systems.

Simplified

Funding

Competing interests

Dr. Zelaya has received funding from NIHR, the EU-BRAINN consortium, and the CHDI Foundation. Dr. Young has served as Honorary Consultant for South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust; he is Editor of the Journal of Psychopharmacology and Deputy Editor of BJPsych Open ; he has received payment for lectures and advisory boards from Allergan, AstraZeneca, Bionomics, Boehringer Ingelheim, Compass, Eli Lilly, Flow Neuroscience, Janssen, LivaNova, Lundbeck, Neurocentrx, Noema Pharma, Novartis, Roche, Sage, Servier, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Sunovion, and Takeda; he has served as principal investigator for studies funded by COMPASS Pathways, Janssen Research & Development, LivaNova, and Novartis; and he has received grant funding from the British Medical Association, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the CCS Depression Research Fund, EU Horizon 2020, Janssen, Michael Smith Health Research BC, MRC, NARSAD, NIHR, NIMH, the Royal College of Physicians, the Stanley Medical Research Institute, the UBC-VGH Foundation, WEDC, and Wellcome Trust. Dr. Mehta has received funding from Lundbeck, Nxera, and Takeda; he has received in-kind contributions from Compass Pathways; he has served as an adviser or consultant for Boehringer Ingelheim, Curie.Bio, Neurocentrx, Nxera, and Quolet Pharmaceuticals; and he has received speaker fees from Takeda. The other authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.
PubMed

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