Sex differences in ketamine treatment for depressive disorders: A systematic review

IF 3.9 2区医学 Q1 CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry Pub Date : 2025-10-02 DOI:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2025.111521

Ziqin Feng , Hengjin Wu , Fengquan Xu, Yu Zheng, Huazhao Xu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

In recent years, ketamine has gained attention for its rapid onset and significant antidepressant effects, but research on its differential treatment effects between sexes is limited. This study systematically reviews 22 studies (n=1,155; 485 males, 670 females) to explore the sex differences in the effects of ketamine treatment for depression. The findings indicate that while some studies reported sex differences, such as variations in metabolite levels, side effects, and efficacy, the overall evidence is limited, with small sample sizes and inadequate study designs being major contributing factors. Additionally, sex differences may be influenced by hormone levels, drug dosage, and baseline characteristics, which have not been adequately considered. Accordingly, the current lack of consistent sex-specific findings should be interpreted as inconclusive, reflecting limited sample sizes, non-prespecified sex analyses, and heterogeneity of study designs, rather than as evidence of no sex differences. Future research should conduct in-depth analyses of the sex-specific mechanisms of ketamine treatment in larger, sex-balanced studies to advance the development of personalized medicine.

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氯胺酮治疗抑郁症的性别差异：一项系统综述

近年来，氯胺酮因其起效快、抗抑郁作用显著而受到关注，但对其两性治疗差异效果的研究较少。本研究系统回顾了22项研究（n= 1155；男性485例，女性670例），探讨氯胺酮治疗抑郁症效果的性别差异。研究结果表明，虽然一些研究报告了性别差异，如代谢物水平、副作用和疗效的差异，但总体证据有限，样本量小和研究设计不充分是主要因素。此外，性别差异可能受到激素水平、药物剂量和基线特征的影响，这些尚未得到充分考虑。因此，目前缺乏一致的性别特异性发现应被解释为不确定，反映了有限的样本量，非预先指定的性别分析和研究设计的异质性，而不是作为没有性别差异的证据。未来的研究应在更大规模、性别平衡的研究中深入分析氯胺酮治疗的性别特异性机制，以推进个性化医疗的发展。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

12.00

自引率

1.80%

发文量

153

审稿时长

56 days

期刊介绍： Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry is an international and multidisciplinary journal which aims to ensure the rapid publication of authoritative reviews and research papers dealing with experimental and clinical aspects of neuro-psychopharmacology and biological psychiatry. Issues of the journal are regularly devoted wholly in or in part to a topical subject. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry does not publish work on the actions of biological extracts unless the pharmacological active molecular substrate and/or specific receptor binding properties of the extract compounds are elucidated.