{"id":617554,"date":"2026-08-03T03:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T03:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/617554\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T03:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T03:36:15","slug":"psychedelics-and-ketamine-rewire-brain-immune-signals-in-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/617554\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychedelics and Ketamine Rewire Brain Immune Signals in Depression"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Summary: <\/strong>A study uncovered a novel neuroimmune mechanism explaining how rapid-acting antidepressants, including ketamine and psychedelics, alleviate treatment-resistant depression.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite acting on different initial neural receptors, these distinct fast-acting therapeutics converge on shared immune-to-brain signaling pathways. The research team identified specific immune biomarkers, notably interleukin-15 (IL-15), interleukin-7 (IL-7), and downstream B-cell signaling pathways, in both preclinical models and human clinical trials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These baseline immune signatures correlated with brain electrical activity and predicted which patients responded to treatment, offering a potential blood-based biomarker profile to guide clinical selection and develop more durable antidepressant therapies.<\/p>\n<p>Key Facts<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Convergent Neuroimmune Axis:<\/strong> Rapid-acting antidepressants with distinct primary receptor targets (e.g., NMDA receptor antagonists like ketamine and serotonergic psychedelics like psilocybin) converge on identical molecular immune pathways between the body and brain.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Baseline Immune Predictors of Response:<\/strong> Patients who successfully responded to ketamine exhibited characteristic pre-treatment immune profiles: lower baseline IL-15 pathway activity and elevated baseline B-cell signaling compared to non-responders.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Post-Treatment Biological Reversal:<\/strong> Clinical response to ketamine directly reversed these baseline immune imbalances, normalizing the balance between IL-7 and IL-15 signaling and inducing corresponding shifts in brain electrical activity.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Blood-to-Brain Biomarker Alignment:<\/strong> Matching immune-related gene and protein changes observed in patient blood samples correlated with shifts in brain electrophysiology, establishing systemic blood signals as viable proxies for central neuroimmune function.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Oncology-Depression Application:<\/strong> Provides a biological framework to better identify and treat severe depression in complex patient populations, including cancer patients experiencing treatment-resistant psychological distress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Source: <\/strong>MD Anderson<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In a new study, researchers from\u00a0The University of Texas MD\u202fAnderson Cancer Center\u00a0have\u00a0uncovered insights that\u00a0may help\u00a0explain\u00a0how rapid-acting antidepressants, such as ketamine and psychedelics,\u00a0can\u00a0reduce\u00a0symptoms in\u00a0difficult-to-treat depression. The findings may also help\u00a0identify\u00a0patients who are\u00a0most likely to\u00a0benefit\u00a0from these treatments.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The\u00a0study, published in\u00a0Molecular Psychiatry,\u00a0was\u00a0co-led by Gregory Jones, M.D.,\u00a0assistant\u00a0professor of\u00a0Psychiatry.\u00a0The researchers discovered that\u00a0these\u00a0therapies\u00a0work by changing communication signals between the immune system and the brain, suggesting that they\u00a0share certain neuroimmune pathways, even though they act on different receptors in the brain.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>  <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ketamine-psychedelics-depression-neuroscience.jpg\" alt=\"This shows a head.\"  \/> Rapid-acting antidepressants like ketamine and psychedelics converge on shared IL-15 and IL-7 neuroimmune pathways to alleviate treatment-resistant depression. Credit: Neuroscience News<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cKetamine and psychedelics\u00a0affect\u00a0the brain in different ways\u00a0subjectively,\u00a0but\u00a0our findings suggest\u00a0that they\u00a0eventually end up\u00a0in\u00a0some of\u00a0the same\u00a0neuroimmune\u00a0pathways,\u201d Jones said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBy studying blood signals and brain activity together,\u00a0researchers can better understand how the body and brain may work in tandem\u00a0to respond to antidepressants.\u00a0We\u00a0hope to be able to use these\u00a0findings to better treat patients with depression,\u00a0which is\u00a0not\u00a0uncommon\u00a0in those facing a cancer diagnosis.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What\u00a0are rapid-acting antidepressants and how can they be used to\u00a0treat depression?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Treatment-resistant depression occurs when symptoms do not improve after multiple treatments with traditional antidepressants\u00a0or talk therapy.\u00a0Rapid-acting antidepressants,\u00a0such as ketamine\u00a0and\u00a0psilocybin,\u00a0have\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0significant, rapid\u00a0symptom\u00a0improvement\u00a0in some patients\u00a0with treatment-resistant depression, but\u00a0it is unclear which patients are more likely to benefit.\u00a0A deeper understanding of the\u00a0biological mechanisms driving these responses could\u00a0help scientists develop more durable and accessible treatments for depression.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What did the researchers learn\u00a0about\u00a0rapid-acting antidepressants in this study?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The researchers\u00a0analyzed the effects of\u00a0multiple rapid-acting antidepressants\u00a0in laboratory\u00a0models as\u00a0well as\u00a0in\u00a0a previous\u00a0clinical trial. They discovered that\u00a0several rapid-acting antidepressants trigger a common set of molecular changes related to the immune system in brain cells. They\u00a0observed\u00a0matching immune-related changes in patients\u2019 blood along with related shifts in patients\u2019 brain electrical activity after ketamine treatment, suggesting a shared biological pathway that may underlie rapid relief from depression.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Participants who responded to ketamine showed lower IL-15 pathway activity and higher B\u00a0cell signaling before treatment than nonresponders,\u00a0both of which reversed after treatment in patients who responded.\u00a0The results suggest that rapid antidepressant response may involve restoring balance between IL-7 and IL-15, with downstream effects on B cells and brain activity.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s\u00a0next for this research?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The findings\u00a0are exploratory\u00a0and\u00a0need validation in larger,\u00a0prospective\u00a0studies. Future research will\u00a0determine\u00a0whether\u00a0IL-15,\u00a0IL-7 and\u00a0related\u00a0biomarkers\u00a0can\u00a0predict\u00a0treatment\u00a0response before therapy and\u00a0whether\u00a0targeting these pathways could improve or extend responses to rapid-acting antidepressants.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Funding: <\/strong>This research was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.\u00a0For a full list of collaborating authors, disclosures and funding sources, see the full paper in\u202fMolecular Psychiatry.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Key Questions Answered:<strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Q: How do ketamine and psychedelics produce similar biological effects if they target different brain receptors?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"schema-faq-answer\"><strong>A:<\/strong> While ketamine targets NMDA receptors and psychedelics primarily act on serotonin receptors (such as 5-HT2A), both drug classes trigger downstream signaling cascades that converge on a shared neuroimmune pathway. This shared pathway regulates communication between immune cells (like B cells and specific interleukins) and central neural circuits, driving rapid clinical relief.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Q: Which specific immune biomarkers were identified as predictors of antidepressant response?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"schema-faq-answer\"><strong>A:<\/strong> The researchers identified interleukin-15 (IL-15), interleukin-7 (IL-7), and downstream B-cell signaling markers. Specifically, patients who responded to ketamine entered treatment with lower IL-15 activity and higher B-cell signaling, which reversed and normalized following successful treatment.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\">Q: How could these findings improve clinical treatment for treatment-resistant depression?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"schema-faq-answer\"><strong>A:<\/strong> If validated in larger prospective trials, clinicians could use simple blood tests targeting IL-7, IL-15, and B-cell markers to predict which patients will benefit from rapid-acting antidepressants before therapy begins, saving time and tailoring interventions for difficult-to-treat depression.<\/p>\n<p>Editorial Notes:<\/p>\n<ul style=\"background-color:#ffffe8\" class=\"wp-block-list has-background\">\n<li>This article was edited by a Neuroscience News editor.<\/li>\n<li>Journal paper reviewed in full.<\/li>\n<li>Additional context added by our staff.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>About this depression and psychopharmacology research news<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"background-color:#ffffe8\"><strong>Author:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.utoronto.ca\/news\/authors-reporters\/don-campbell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/nathalie-andre-2607569\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><a href=\"http:\/\/neurosciencenews.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#95f4e7f7f9fafaf8d5f8f1f4fbf1f0e7e6fafbbbfae7f2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Aubrey Bloom<\/a><br \/><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/mdanderson.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">M. D. Anderson<\/a><br \/><strong>Contact:\u00a0<\/strong>Aubrey Bloom \u2013 M. D. Anderson<br \/><strong>Image:\u00a0<\/strong>The image is credited to Neuroscience News<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-background wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"background-color:#ffffe8\"><strong>Original Research:\u00a0<\/strong>Open access.<br \/>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41380-026-03777-z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Convergent neuroimmune signaling underlying rapid antidepressant response to ketamine and psychedelics<\/a>\u201d by Gregory H. Jones, Jessica R. Gilbert, Jenessa N. Johnston, Nirmala Akula, Anton Schulmann, Miranda Arakelian, Shiyong Peng, Peixiong Yuan, Ewurakua A. Winful, Mani Yavi, Brandi Quintanilla, Abdel Elkahloun, Ruin Moaddel, Ioline D. Henter, Dede Greenstein, Rodrigo Machado-Vieira, Christopher M. Bartley, Bashkim Kadriu, Moran Amit, Katy Rezvani, Mark D. Kvarta, Francis J. McMahon &amp; Carlos A. Zarate Jr..\u00a0Molecular Psychiatry<br \/><strong>DOI:10.1038\/s41380-026-03777-z<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Convergent neuroimmune signaling underlying rapid antidepressant response to ketamine and psychedelics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite distinct receptor targets, both ketamine and serotonergic psychedelics produce a rapid clinical response and share biological signatures that suggest convergence on common downstream molecular mediators.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To identify shared biomarkers of rapid antidepressant response, this study integrated CSF proteomics from healthy volunteers (HVs) who received intravenous ketamine with transcriptomic analyses from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from participants with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and HVs; iPSCs were treated with ketamine, its metabolite (2\u2009R,6\u2009R)-hydroxynorketamine, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), or psilocybin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Multimodal clinical characterization (transcriptomics (n\u2009=\u200916 TRD; 11 HV), magnetoencephalography (MEG) (n\u2009=\u200930 TRD; 25 HV), and plasma cytokines (n\u2009=\u200939 TRD; 25 HV) were also performed on TRD and HV participants who received a single dose of intravenous ketamine (0.5\u2009mg\/kg) or placebo. Conserved immune pathways were identified across CSF and iPSC neurons with interleukin-15 (IL)-15 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) emerging as key regulatory hubs. Transcriptomically, in whole blood, ketamine responders exhibited decreased IL-15 and elevated B-cell signaling pathways at baseline that were reversed post-treatment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the protein level, plasma IL-7 levels (primary B-cell driver) correlated with baseline MEG gamma power, reaching brain-wide significance across all participants (main effect pFDR\u2009&lt;\u20090.05). The association was most pronounced in the TRD participants across subcortical regions (diagnosis x IL-7 pFDR\u2009&lt;\u200910-14). Post-ketamine, the TRD IL-7\u2013gamma relationship inverted, paralleling widespread gamma power reductions throughout default-mode network regions (session x IL-7 pclc\u2009&lt;\u20090.05).<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In mixed-effects models, cytokine ratios linked to IL-7\/IL-15 signaling predicted antidepressant response (IL-4\/interferon gamma (IFN-\u03b3) pFDR\u2009&lt;\u20090.041) and non-response (MCP-1\/IL-7 pFDR\u2009&lt;\u20090.009), suggesting that rebalancing within the IL-7\/IL-15 axis may contribute to therapeutic efficacy. Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00088699; NCT02484456.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summary: A study uncovered a novel neuroimmune mechanism explaining how rapid-acting antidepressants, including ketamine and psychedelics, alleviate treatment-resistant&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617555,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[276],"tags":[1277,164,18,135,19,97383,17,6624,107761,167,502,1280,1281,33145,4226,212007],"class_list":["post-617554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-brain-research","tag-depression","tag-eire","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-immune-cells","tag-ireland","tag-ketamine","tag-md-anderson","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-neurobiology","tag-neuroscience","tag-psychedelics","tag-psychology","tag-psychopharmacology"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117029489616642986","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}