Nitrous Oxide: an emerging novel treatment for treatment-resistant depression.
Journal of the neurological sciences March 15, 2022 Darin F Quach, Victoria C De Leon, Charles R Conway
About 20-25% of people with major depressive disorder do not respond to standard antidepressants, prompting the search for new treatments. Ketamine, which acts on the NMDA receptor, has drawn substantial research interest. Nitrous oxide, used for over a century as an anesthetic and analgesic, is now being studied for treatment-resistant depression. This review covers nitrous oxide's use as a psychiatric intervention, its current applications in psychiatry, proposed mechanisms of action, and future research directions, including knowledge gaps and other potential psychiatric uses.