Methoxetamine: from drug of abuse to rapid-acting antidepressant

Med Hypotheses. 2012 Oct;79(4):504-7. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2012.07.002. Epub 2012 Jul 21.

Abstract

Methoxetamine is a dissociative anaesthetic showing pharmacodynamic similarities with its analogue ketamine, a medication with demonstrated rapid-acting antidepressant effects. Like ketamine and other arylcyclohexylamine compounds, methoxetamine is thought to be both a noncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist and a dopamine reuptake inhibitor. Furthermore, it acts as an agonist at dopamine D2, serotonin 5HT2, muscarinic cholinergic, sigma-1, opioid mu and k receptors. The hypothesis is that methoxetamine can produce rapid antidepressant effects in patients with resistant and non-resistant unipolar and bipolar depression.

MeSH terms

  • Anesthetics, Dissociative / pharmacology
  • Animals
  • Antidepressive Agents / pharmacology*
  • Bipolar Disorder / drug therapy
  • Cyclohexanones / pharmacology*
  • Cyclohexylamines / pharmacology*
  • Depressive Disorder / drug therapy
  • Humans
  • Illicit Drugs / pharmacology
  • Ketamine / pharmacology
  • Models, Biological
  • Receptors, Muscarinic / drug effects
  • Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / drug effects
  • Receptors, Opioid / drug effects
  • Receptors, sigma / drug effects

Substances

  • Anesthetics, Dissociative
  • Antidepressive Agents
  • Cyclohexanones
  • Cyclohexylamines
  • Illicit Drugs
  • Receptors, Muscarinic
  • Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate
  • Receptors, Opioid
  • Receptors, sigma
  • Ketamine
  • 2-(3-methoxyphenyl)-2-(ethylamino)cyclohexanone