Chinese scientists have made new discoveries related to depression drugs

Depression is a mental illness that affects over 300 million people worldwide, and there is still a lack of effective treatment drugs. The fundamental challenge in drug development is that the mechanism of action of drugs is not yet clear.

For this reason, scientists are trying to unravel the mystery, among which is a ketamine drug called "K powder" that has received a lot of attention. On September 14, Natural Neuroscience published online the research results of Chen Yelin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, on new antidepressant drugs, which discovered the mechanism of action of Esketamine. Many celebrities have been exposed to suffer from depression, including Iron Man Musk. Musk once admitted on social media that he used ketamine to treat depression. He stated that he is taking a small dose of ketamine. Ketamine is a strictly regulated psychoanalytic drug that has been used as an inhaled anesthetic for a long time in medical clinical practice. It was not until the beginning of this century that scientists began to consider whether this drug could also become an effective antidepressant. By imitating the blocking effect of ketamine on the NMDA receptor, scientists developed the dextral isomer of ketamine, Esketamine. The pharmaceutical department of Johnson&Johnson first tried to develop nasal spray for drug delivery. In 2019, the drug was approved for marketing by the US FDA for the treatment of resistant depression. "Ketamine and ketamine are like twins, chemically known as optical isomers," a mental health expert who has long been engaged in depression treatment told First Financial reporters. When Esketamine was approved as a nasal spray, it was the first antidepressant with a new mechanism of action in the United States for more than 30 years. In April of this year, the National Medical Products Administration of China also approved the launch of ketamine nasal spray, which is used to treat patients with acute suicidal ideation or behavior and alleviate their symptoms. Compared to the pain points of slow onset of traditional antidepressants, the effect of ketamine can be observed several hours after the first administration. However, although it has the advantage of quick onset, the drug also has many drawbacks and side effects, such as a short duration of efficacy, certain addictive properties, and hallucinogenic effects, which result in the drug being listed as a controlled drug and must be used under the supervision of a doctor in designated medical institutions. Patients usually have to wait in the hospital for two to three hours after medication, and can only leave after their hallucinations disappear, causing great inconvenience in medication. The reporter from First Financial News learned from the Shanghai Mental Health Center that "Sukailang" has not been admitted to the hospital yet, mainly because the drug is strictly controlled as a spermatic drug. On the other hand, there has been considerable controversy in the academic community over the mechanism of ketamine's antidepressant activity, which has hindered the development of more effective and less side effects antidepressant drugs. In order to unravel the mystery of the mechanism of action of ketamine, Chen Yelin's research team has been using genetic methods since 2015 to analyze the antidepressant activity of ketamine by knocking out potential targets in experimental mice. After years of research, the team has found that if the antidepressant activity and hallucinogenic activity of ketamine can be separated, the side effects of the drug can be eliminated, and small molecule compounds with fewer side effects and more perfect antidepressant properties can be developed. The results of this study were published online on the evening of September 14th in the journal Nature Neuroscience. The Chen Yelin team revealed to First Financial reporters that based on the latest research results, they have collaborated with multiple parties to develop a fast and less toxic antidepressant drug, which has been proven effective in animal experiments. The related drug development is expected to enter the clinical trial stage next year.