Can ketamine lift you from deep depression?
| Jun 26, 2018, 17:39 IST
A new research has found out ketamine is not like other antidepressant medications. It can lift a person out of a deep depression within minutes of its administration. Researchers, led by Mark Rasenick, the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, describe the molecular mechanisms behind ketamine's ability to squash depression and keep it at bay.
The effects of ketamine did last for about a week which is much longer than would be expected with ketamine's six-hour half-life in the body. Rasenick and his colleagues used a cellular model system to investigate how ketamine acted.
Apparently, when the researchers knocked out the NMDA receptor, ketamine still had the same effect on the cells quickly moving G proteins out of lipid rafts on the cell membrane.
Speaking about which Mark Rasenick said, "When G proteins move out of the lipid rafts, it allows for better communication among brain cells, which is known to help alleviate some of the symptoms of depression.”
The effects of ketamine did last for about a week which is much longer than would be expected with ketamine's six-hour half-life in the body. Rasenick and his colleagues used a cellular model system to investigate how ketamine acted.
Apparently, when the researchers knocked out the NMDA receptor, ketamine still had the same effect on the cells quickly moving G proteins out of lipid rafts on the cell membrane.
Speaking about which Mark Rasenick said, "When G proteins move out of the lipid rafts, it allows for better communication among brain cells, which is known to help alleviate some of the symptoms of depression.”