Six-week oral ketamine treatment for chronic suicidality is associated with increased grey matter volume

• Published in: Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging Vol. 317; p. 111369
• Main Authors: Gallay, Cyrana C., Forsyth, Grace, Can, Adem T., Dutton, Megan, Jamieson, Daniel, Jensen, Emma, Hermens, Daniel F., Bennett, Maxwell R., Lagopoulos, Jim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 30.11.2021
• Subjects: Adult; Depression; Glutamate; Gray Matter - diagnostic imaging; Gray Matter - metabolism; Humans; Ketamine - pharmacology; Ketamine - therapeutic use; Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate - metabolism; Suicidal Ideation; Suicide; Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Glutamate; Depression
• ISSN: 0925-4927; 1872-7506
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2021.111369

•Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to investigate grey matter changes in chronically suicidal participants following 6 weeks of low-dose oral ketamine treatment.•Significantly increased grey matter volumes were found in the periaqueductal grey, nucleus accumbens, putamen, caudate and thalamus.•Our results did not find evidence of grey matter changes in cortical areas, including the prefrontal cortex or the anterior cingulate cortex. Chronic suicidality has been associated with neuronal atrophy in cortico-striato-limbic regions and is thought to be mediated via a glutamatergic imbalance. Ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, has been posited to exert anti-suicidal effects by promoting neurogenesis via modulation of glutamatergic transmission. This voxel-based morphometry study examined the effect of ketamine on whole brain grey matter in adults with chronic suicidality. Grey matter in the periaqueductal grey, nucleus accumbens, putamen, caudate, and thalamus was significantly increased following 6 weeks of low dose oral ketamine treatment. These results support the notion that ketamine rapidly enhances synaptic plasticity within striato-limbic regions.