The researchers of a new study claim to have developed an anti-depressant drug on the lines of ketamine, which is both easy to take and ensures safety that casts effect within hours.

The study was conducted by Ronald Duman, a Professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Yale, and George Aghajanian, Professor of pharmacology. It will publish in the journal Science on Friday.

The findings of the study include the functioning of the drug on brain, as compared to the other drugs taken for relieving depression. While other serotonin reuptake inhibitor anti-depressants like Prozac and Zoloft show their effects after their prolonged intake, but one dose of the new drug is effective even for up to ten days, as stated by Duman.

Adding to this, he told that such a drug, which produces instant results, is the need of the hour. Also, the drug is beneficial for 70% of such patients on whom the anti-depressants do not work or cast side-effects.

In 1960s, the drug ketamine that has anesthetic effect was developed for the use of soldiers in Vietnam, which gradually came to be known as "party drug" for its feature of causing short-term psychotic symptoms.

The researchers observed how the ketamine works on brain by testing it on rats. It was discovered that the drug was effective for repairing the damaged synaptic links between the neurons, caused by severe depression. It also reactivated an enzyme known as mTOR that helped in relieving stressful conditions.