A team of researchers from Yale University (United States) has described how ketamine , a novel antidepressant also known as "K" , produces a "magical" effect in people with profound depression in just a few hours , compared to traditional drugs, which require follow-up for weeks or months to be effective.
The work describes how ketamine, in addition to improving symptoms and behavior generated by depression, is also capable of regenerating synaptic connections between neurons in the brain damaged by this chronic disease.
"The key is in the path that ketamine takes until it reaches the brain," says one of the study collaborators, George Aghajanian, who has identified a "critical point" in that path, the enzyme mTOR , which controls the synthesis of the proteins required for the development of new connections between brain cells.
Ketamine has traditionally been used as a general anesthetic for children, but for a decade the drug, administered intravenously , has been shown to help depressed patients to overcome their illness. With a single dose, it is capable of working for seven to ten days, and in clinical studies it has been shown to be effective in at least 70 percent of patients who were resistant to treatment with other antidepressants.
