ketamine
Spotlight: "Intravenous Ketamine for Late-Life Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Pilot Study of Tolerability, Safety, Clinical Benefits, and Effect on Cognition (Oughli, et al, 2023)
"This pilot study suggests that repeated IV ketamine infusions are well-tolerated and are associated with improvement in depression and EF in older adults with TRD."
mdma
Spotlight: MDMA + Psychotherapy as a treatment for major depressive disorder: proof of principle study (Kvam, et al, 2025)
"There were no adverse events of special interest, and no unexpected or serious adverse events. The study met the primary objectives of safety and feasibility, and provided indications of efficacy for MDMA-AT for MDD. Further studies with a randomised design are required to confirm these findings."
ketamine repeated doses
Spotlight: Comparing the Cognitive Effects of Repeated Intravenous Ketamine and Electroconvulsive Therapy in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Secondary Analysis of the ELEKT-D Trial
"Patients treated with ketamine demonstrated superior cognitive functioning compared with ECT following a 3-week treatment, no differences between treatments observed. Findings support short-term superiority of ketamine on cognitive functioning and the long-term cognitive safety of both treatments."
fda
Preservative-free formulation of ketamine, NRX-100, Granted FDA Fast-Track Designation for Suicidal Ideation in Patients with Depression, including Bipolar Depression
"Approximately 13 million adults seriously consider suicide each year, 1.5 million attempt suicide, and an American dies from suicide every 11 minutes. NRX-100 – IV ketamine for suicidality in patients with depression, including bipolar depression – designed to help address national crisis."
cancer
Spotlight: Long-term benefits of single-dose psilocybin in depressed patients with cancer (Agrawal, et al, 2025)
"These findings demonstrate robust antidepressive activity from a single 25 mg dose of psilocybin combined with psychotherapy and suggest a potentially paradigm-changing alternative to traditional antidepressants requiring further study."
cannabis
Spotlight: UK Medical Cannabis Registry: A clinical outcomes analysis for insomnia (Aggarwal, et al, 2025)
"The study demonstrated improvements in subjective sleep quality and other captured PROMs in insomnia patients treated with cannabis-based medicinal products."
ketamine
Spotlight: New and emerging pharmacologic treatments for MDD (Uyar, et al, 2025)
"Clinical trials have demonstrated the ability of ketamine to quickly reduce symptoms, particularly in treatment-resistant cases, with effects noticeable within hours and lasting several days post-administration."
ketamine
Spotlight: Ketamine Reverses Chronic Stress-Induced Behavioral Changes via the Expression of Ca2+-Permeable AMPA Receptors in Mice (Flowers, et al, 2025)
"Our findings suggest that subanesthetic low-dose ketamine rapidly triggers the expression of CP-AMPARs in the hippocampus, which induces antidepressant and antistress effects."
ketamine
Spotlight: Intravenous ketamine for suicide ideation in borderline personality and depression (Bachir, et al, 2025)
"This report highlights ketamine's rapid action on glutamate pathways and its potential benefits in complex psychiatric profiles where traditional treatments like electroconvulsive therapy often fail. "
ketamine
Spotlight "Prefrontal contribution to passive coping behaviour in chronic stress and treatment by fast-acting antidepressant" (Fong, et al, 2025)
"Persistent passive coping (p-coping) behaviour is a hallmark feature in major depression and is reversed by fast-acting antidepressants (such as ketamine)."
iv ketamine
Spotlight: "Long-Term Outcomes in Patients With Treatment-Refractory Depression Receiving Intravenous Ketamine and Intranasal Esketamine: An Observational Study" (Singh, et al, 2025)
Observational study provides evidence regarding longer durability of generic IV ketamine compared to intranasal esketamine (Spravato).
depression
Spotlight: Nearly half of depression diagnoses could be considered treatment-resistant (ScienceDaily, 2025)
Mixed methods study found hopelessness among patients struggling with condition after trying multiple antidepressants
