Ketamine and Esketamine in Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder: A Scoping Review of Clinical and Mechanistic Evidence
Maria Marmureanu, Mariana Valy Besoiu, Vlad Dionisie, Mihnea Costin Manea, Catalin Pleșea-Condratovici, Sorana Iulia Voican, Mirela Manea · 2026
Read Ketamine and Esketamine in Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder: A Scoping Review of Clinical and Mechanistic Evidence by Maria Marmureanu, Mariana Valy Besoiu, Vlad Dionisie, Mihnea Costin Manea, Catalin Pleșea-Condratovici, Sorana Iulia Voican, Mirela Manea (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-13119091.txt.
Description
Maria Marmureanu and six co-authors review what is known about ketamine and its cousin esketamine as treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Their 2026 review notes that many patients respond poorly to the standard care of serotonin-based drugs and behavioral therapy. The disorder was long framed as a serotonin problem, but evidence now points to glutamate, a different brain messenger, and these two drugs act on that system.
Searching three databases, the team gathered twenty-one studies, five in animals and sixteen in people. Animal work suggests the drugs ease compulsive-like behavior. In patients, ketamine can cut obsessive symptoms fast, though results vary from study to study. Most trials gave a single dose, while the few that repeated doses hint at stronger benefit. The authors call the promise real but early, and ask for larger trials with repeated dosing and longer follow-up.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Maria Marmureanu, Mariana Valy Besoiu, Vlad Dionisie, Mihnea Costin Manea, Catalin Pleșea-Condratovici, Sorana Iulia Voican, Mirela Manea |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 43 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |