Current Status of Ketamine and Related Compounds for Depression

Article Abstract Because this piece does not have an abstract, we have provided for your benefit the first 3 sentences of the full text. Several clinical trials have demonstrated the rapid antidepressant effects of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist ketamine for the treatment of both major depressive disorder (MDD) and the depressed state of bipolar disorder.1 While these results from academic settings are promising, generalizability to "real-world" clinical populations is a looming question. This brief review will address pragmatic clinical issues and highlight recent developments regarding ketamine and related compounds for depression.