Efficacy of Ketamine in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders: A Systematic Review

Frontiers in Psychiatry
Jennifer L JonesSudie E Back

Abstract

Background: Despite advances in behavioral and pharmacotherapy interventions, substance use disorders (SUDs) are frequently refractory to treatment. Glutamatergic dysregulation has received increasing attention as one common neuropathology across multiple substances of abuse. Ketamine is a potent N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamatergic receptor antagonist which has been found to be effective in the treatment of severe depression. Here we review the literature on the efficacy of ketamine in the treatment of SUDs. Methods: A systematic review of the PubMed, Scopus, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases was undertaken to identify completed and ongoing human studies of the effectiveness of ketamine in the treatment of SUDs between January 1997 and January 2018. Results and conclusion: Seven completed studies were identified. Two studies focused on alcohol use disorder, two focused on cocaine use disorder, and three focused on opioid use disorder. Both cocaine studies found improvements in craving, motivation, and decreased cocaine use rates, although studies were limited by small sample sizes, a homogeneous population and short follow-up. Studies of alcohol and opioid use disorders found improvement in abstinence rates in the ketamine...Continue Reading

References

Apr 1, 1997·Journal of Psychoactive Drugs·E M Krupitsky, A Y Grinenko
Oct 4, 2000·JAMA : the Journal of the American Medical Association·A T McLellanH D Kleber
Dec 24, 2002·Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment·Evgeny KrupitskyAlexander Grinenko
May 26, 2007·Journal of Psychoactive Drugs·Evgeny M KrupitskyAlexander Y Grinenko
Aug 21, 2007·Biochemical Pharmacology·Justin T Gass, M Foster Olive
Jul 25, 2012·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Ronald S Duman, Nanxin Li
Feb 13, 2014·PloS One·Marilyn D SkinnerHenri-Jean Aubin
May 16, 2014·JAMA : the Journal of the American Medical Association·Daniel E JonasJames C Garbutt
Aug 16, 2014·Substance Abuse : Official Publication of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse·Caitlin NotleyRichard Holland
Oct 18, 2014·The Annals of Pharmacotherapy·Adrian WongSandra L Kane-Gill
Dec 30, 2014·The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology·Mark J NiciuCarlos A Zarate
Jan 12, 2016·The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry : the Official Journal of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry·Matthew D CooperRoger S McIntyre
Nov 16, 2016·European Neuropsychopharmacology : the Journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology·Karl MannWim van den Brink
Mar 18, 2017·Nature Reviews. Drug Discovery·James W MurroughSanjay J Mathew
Mar 28, 2017·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Francesco BartoliGiuseppe Carrà
Oct 17, 2017·Biological Psychiatry : Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging·Chadi G AbdallahDaniel H Mathalon
Jan 19, 2018·The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry·Francesco BartoliGiuseppe Carrà

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Jan 7, 2020·Journal of Palliative Medicine·April Christensen, Jennifer Pruskowski
Jun 11, 2019·Frontiers in Psychiatry·Marianne DestoopGeert Dom
Jun 9, 2020·Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience·Greer McKendrickNicholas M Graziane
May 17, 2019·Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity·Christonikos LeventelisDemetrios Kouretas
Jul 28, 2019·European Journal of Pharmacology·Agata Nowacka, Malgorzata Borczyk
Feb 12, 2021·International Review of Psychiatry·Luke A Jelen, James M Stone
Feb 13, 2021·Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior·Hana ShafiquePiotr Popik
Apr 3, 2020·Journal of the Neurological Sciences·Molly C KalmoeCharles R Conway
Apr 1, 2021·The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry : the Official Journal of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry·Jana Ruda-KucerovaYousef Tizabi
Aug 8, 2020·Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior·Piotr PopikJeffrey M Witkin
May 18, 2021·Frontiers in Neuroscience·Ezio CarboniAntonello Novelli
Jun 8, 2021·Journal of Psychopharmacology·John Martin CorkeryFabrizio Schifano
Jul 20, 2020·Current Drug Targets·Mohammad Farris Iman Leong Bin Abdullah

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Methods Mentioned

BETA
pharmacotherapy
pharmacotherapies

Clinical Trials Mentioned

NCT02649231
NCT02539511
NCT02461927
NCT03344419
NCT03345173
NCT02946489

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Addiction

This feed focuses mechanisms underlying addiction and addictive behaviour including heroin and opium dependence, alcohol intoxication, gambling, and tobacco addiction.

Alcohol Use Disorder

Alcohol use disorder involves a pattern of alcohol consumption that includes compulsive use and a loss of control over intake of alcohol. The impact on physical health, socioeconomic factors, and psychiatric health is profound. Find the latest research on alcohol use disorder here.