A Study to Decrease Suicidal Thinking Using Ketamine

Summary

Depression treatment typically is slow acting. Patients presenting with acute suicidality have few immediate treatment options. However, sub-anesthetic doses of ketamine have been now widely tested as a rapid-acting treatment for depression. Gregory Larkin et al at Yale showed this could be applied to suicidal patients, with 14 of 15 participants showing remission of suicidal thinking within 40 min of the administration of ketamine, with 13 showing lasting remission out to 10 days. No serious side effects were reported. This project proposes to conduct a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of this, same intervention in military patients recently hospitalized for suicidal thinking. After being assessed, and giving informed consent, participants would receive 0.2mg/kg ketamine or placebo. Their suicidal thinking, depression, and other symptoms would be monitored acutely for 240 min after drug infusion, and the for lasting changes the next day, at hospital discharge, 2 weeks, and 10 weeks. Potential adverse events will be monitored via the electronic medical record for up to a year.

Timeline

Start

2016-08

Primary completion

2016-08

Completion

2017-08

Publications

• Background Melville NA. Bolus dose of ketamine offers fast-acting alleviation of acute depression in ED setting. Medscape Medical News. September 29, 2010.
• Background Messer MM, Haller IV. Maintenance ketamine treatment produces long-term recovery from depression. Primary Psychiatry. 2010; 17(4):48-50.
• Background Zarate CA Jr, Singh JB, Carlson PJ, Brutsche NE, Ameli R, Luckenbaugh DA, Charney DS, Manji HK. A randomized trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist in treatment-resistant major depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2006 Aug;63(8):856-64. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.63.8.856.
• Background Yilmaz A, Schulz D, Aksoy A, Canbeyli R. Prolonged effect of an anesthetic dose of ketamine on behavioral despair. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2002 Jan-Feb;71(1-2):341-4. doi: 10.1016/s0091-3057(01)00693-1.
• Background Sanacora G, Gueorguieva R, Epperson CN, Wu YT, Appel M, Rothman DL, Krystal JH, Mason GF. Subtype-specific alterations of gamma-aminobutyric acid and glutamate in patients with major depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2004 Jul;61(7):705-13. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.61.7.705.
• Background Zarate CA Jr, Du J, Quiroz J, Gray NA, Denicoff KD, Singh J, Charney DS, Manji HK. Regulation of cellular plasticity cascades in the pathophysiology and treatment of mood disorders: role of the glutamatergic system. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003 Nov;1003:273-91. doi: 10.1196/annals.1300.017.
• Background Berman RM, Cappiello A, Anand A, Oren DA, Heninger GR, Charney DS, Krystal JH. Antidepressant effects of ketamine in depressed patients. Biol Psychiatry. 2000 Feb 15;47(4):351-4. doi: 10.1016/s0006-3223(99)00230-9.
• Background Panzer O, Moitra V, Sladen RN. Pharmacology of sedative-analgesic agents: dexmedetomidine, remifentanil, ketamine, volatile anesthetics, and the role of peripheral mu antagonists. Crit Care Clin. 2009 Jul;25(3):451-69, vii. doi: 10.1016/j.ccc.2009.04.004.

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