Cells
February 12, 2022
Alina Wilkowska, Mariusz S. Wiglusz, Katarzyna Jakuszkowiak‐wojten et al.
23 citations
A review of animal and human studies on combining ketamine with lamotrigine found that animal models suggested a synergistic antidepressant effect, while studies in healthy humans showed lamotrigine pretreatment reduced ketamine-induced dissociative symptoms. In a study of depressed patients, a single ketamine infusion combined with lamotrigine did not produce a stronger antidepressant effect than ketamine alone. A case series described antidepressant and anti-suicidal effects in two bipolar patients. Clinical studies in mood disorder patients did not support lamotrigine reducing ketamine-induced dissociation. The available evidence was insufficient to answer the review's questions, but pointed to future research directions, including controlled studies in bipolar patients with multiple ketamine infusions.
Brain Sciences
January 13, 2023
Maria Gałuszko‐węgielnik, Zuzanna Chmielewska, Katarzyna Jakuszkowiak‐wojten et al.
20 citations
Psychotic treatment-resistant depression is a severe form of major depressive disorder involving hallucinations or delusions, often underdiagnosed and undertreated. Ketamine has shown rapid antidepressant effects, and its enantiomer esketamine was approved for treatment-resistant depression in 2019. This report describes four inpatients with treatment-resistant depression and psychotic features, including one in severe suicidal crisis, who received a single 0.5 mg/kg intravenous infusion of ketamine as an add-on to standard care. Monitoring showed no worsening of psychotic symptoms in short or long term, and all patients achieved stable remission with an immediate antisuicidal effect. Ketamine may benefit individuals with this condition.
The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry
June 20, 2023
Maria Gałuszko‐węgielnik, Katarzyna Jakuszkowiak‐wojten, Alina Wilkowska et al.
9 citations
A woman with both bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder received intravenous ketamine for acute depression. While ketamine initially improved her depressed mood, continued treatment led to increased nonsuicidal self-injury, impulsive behavior, and worsening dissociative symptoms. Treatment was stopped and replaced with a different medication that proved helpful. The authors conclude that ketamine's effects on emotional dysregulation and impulsivity are unclear and differ from its antidepressant effects, highlighting the need for more safety and effectiveness studies in this patient group.
Frontiers in Neuroscience
July 11, 2023
Maria Gałuszko‐węgielnik, Katarzyna Jakuszkowiak‐wojten, Mariusz S. Wiglusz et al.
8 citations
In patients with treatment-resistant unipolar or bipolar depression with psychotic features, eight intravenous infusions of 0.5 mg/kg ketamine given twice a week over 4 weeks did not worsen psychotic or dissociative symptoms. No statistically significant changes occurred in depressive, dissociative, or psychomimetic symptom scores across the whole group during treatment. However, within the unipolar and bipolar subgroups separately, significant improvements in these symptom scores were observed. The findings support the safety and tolerability of ketamine in this population, showing no exacerbation of psychotic symptoms.