Antidepressant Effects of Nitrous Oxide

Summary

To evaluate the acute and sustained antidepressant effects of nitrous oxide in people with major depressive disorder; and further evaluate these effects by identifying the optimal dose and regimen to guide current practice, and to plan a future large pragmatic trial.

Timeline

Start

2021-06-30

Primary completion

2026-02-27

Completion

2026-02-27

Publications

• Background Mathers CD, Loncar D. Projections of global mortality and burden of disease from 2002 to 2030. PLoS Med. 2006 Nov;3(11):e442. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030442.
• Background Conway CR, George MS, Sackeim HA. Toward an Evidence-Based, Operational Definition of Treatment-Resistant Depression: When Enough Is Enough. JAMA Psychiatry. 2017 Jan 1;74(1):9-10. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.2586. No abstract available.
• Background McIntyre RS, Filteau MJ, Martin L, Patry S, Carvalho A, Cha DS, Barakat M, Miguelez M. Treatment-resistant depression: definitions, review of the evidence, and algorithmic approach. J Affect Disord. 2014 Mar;156:1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2013.10.043. Epub 2013 Nov 15.
• Background Schlaepfer TE, Agren H, Monteleone P, Gasto C, Pitchot W, Rouillon F, Nutt DJ, Kasper S. The hidden third: improving outcome in treatment-resistant depression. J Psychopharmacol. 2012 May;26(5):587-602. doi: 10.1177/0269881111431748. Epub 2012 Jan 11.
• Background Sackeim HA. The definition and meaning of treatment-resistant depression. J Clin Psychiatry. 2001;62 Suppl 16:10-7.
• Background Kim YK, Na KS. Role of glutamate receptors and glial cells in the pathophysiology of treatment-resistant depression. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2016 Oct 3;70:117-26. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2016.03.009. Epub 2016 Apr 1.
• Background Lener MS, Niciu MJ, Ballard ED, Park M, Park LT, Nugent AC, Zarate CA Jr. Glutamate and Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid Systems in the Pathophysiology of Major Depression and Antidepressant Response to Ketamine. Biol Psychiatry. 2017 May 15;81(10):886-897. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2016.05.005. Epub 2016 May 12.
• Background Palucha-Poniewiera A, Pilc A. Glutamate-Based Drug Discovery for Novel Antidepressants. Expert Opin Drug Discov. 2016 Sep;11(9):873-83. doi: 10.1080/17460441.2016.1213234. Epub 2016 Aug 2.
• Background Gerhard DM, Wohleb ES, Duman RS. Emerging treatment mechanisms for depression: focus on glutamate and synaptic plasticity. Drug Discov Today. 2016 Mar;21(3):454-64. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2016.01.016. Epub 2016 Feb 6.
• Background Autry AE, Adachi M, Nosyreva E, Na ES, Los MF, Cheng PF, Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM. NMDA receptor blockade at rest triggers rapid behavioural antidepressant responses. Nature. 2011 Jun 15;475(7354):91-5. doi: 10.1038/nature10130.
• Background McCloud TL, Caddy C, Jochim J, Rendell JM, Diamond PR, Shuttleworth C, Brett D, Amit BH, McShane R, Hamadi L, Hawton K, Cipriani A. Ketamine and other glutamate receptor modulators for depression in bipolar disorder in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Sep 29;(9):CD011611. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011611.pub2.
• Background Katalinic N, Lai R, Somogyi A, Mitchell PB, Glue P, Loo CK. Ketamine as a new treatment for depression: a review of its efficacy and adverse effects. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2013 Aug;47(8):710-27. doi: 10.1177/0004867413486842. Epub 2013 May 9.
• Background Hu YD, Xiang YT, Fang JX, Zu S, Sha S, Shi H, Ungvari GS, Correll CU, Chiu HF, Xue Y, Tian TF, Wu AS, Ma X, Wang G. Single i.v. ketamine augmentation of newly initiated escitalopram for major depression: results from a randomized, placebo-controlled 4-week study. Psychol Med. 2016 Feb;46(3):623-35. doi: 10.1017/S0033291715002159. Epub 2015 Oct 19.
• Background Iadarola ND, Niciu MJ, Richards EM, Vande Voort JL, Ballard ED, Lundin NB, Nugent AC, Machado-Vieira R, Zarate CA Jr. Ketamine and other N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists in the treatment of depression: a perspective review. Ther Adv Chronic Dis. 2015 May;6(3):97-114. doi: 10.1177/2040622315579059.
• Background Kavalali ET, Monteggia LM. How does ketamine elicit a rapid antidepressant response? Curr Opin Pharmacol. 2015 Feb;20:35-9. doi: 10.1016/j.coph.2014.11.005. Epub 2014 Nov 25.
• Background Caddy C, Giaroli G, White TP, Shergill SS, Tracy DK. Ketamine as the prototype glutamatergic antidepressant: pharmacodynamic actions, and a systematic review and meta-analysis of efficacy. Ther Adv Psychopharmacol. 2014 Apr;4(2):75-99. doi: 10.1177/2045125313507739.
• Background Lenze EJ, Farber NB, Kharasch E, Schweiger J, Yingling M, Olney J, Newcomer JW. Ninety-six hour ketamine infusion with co-administered clonidine for treatment-resistant depression: A pilot randomised controlled trial. World J Biol Psychiatry. 2016 Apr;17(3):230-8. doi: 10.3109/15622975.2016.1142607. Epub 2016 Feb 26.
• Background Morgan CJ, Curran HV. Acute and chronic effects of ketamine upon human memory: a review. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2006 Nov;188(4):408-24. doi: 10.1007/s00213-006-0572-3. Epub 2006 Sep 28.
• Background Morgan CJ, Curran HV; Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs. Ketamine use: a review. Addiction. 2012 Jan;107(1):27-38. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2011.03576.x. Epub 2011 Jul 22.
• Background Sanders RD, Weimann J, Maze M. Biologic effects of nitrous oxide: a mechanistic and toxicologic review. Anesthesiology. 2008 Oct;109(4):707-22. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0b013e3181870a17.
• Background Nagele P, Metz LB, Crowder CM. Nitrous oxide (N(2)O) requires the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor for its action in Caenorhabditis elegans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Jun 8;101(23):8791-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0402825101. Epub 2004 May 24.
• Background Zorumski CF, Nagele P, Mennerick S, Conway CR. Treatment-Resistant Major Depression: Rationale for NMDA Receptors as Targets and Nitrous Oxide as Therapy. Front Psychiatry. 2015 Dec 9;6:172. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00172. eCollection 2015.
• Background Certosimo F, Walton M, Hartzell D, Farris J. Clinical evaluation of the efficacy of three nitrous oxide scavenging units during dental treatment. Gen Dent. 2002 Sep-Oct;50(5):430-5.
• Background Myles PS, Leslie K, Chan MT, Forbes A, Peyton PJ, Paech MJ, Beattie WS, Sessler DI, Devereaux PJ, Silbert B, Schricker T, Wallace S; ANZCA Trials Group for the ENIGMA-II investigators. The safety of addition of nitrous oxide to general anaesthesia in at-risk patients having major non-cardiac surgery (ENIGMA-II): a randomised, single-blind trial. Lancet. 2014 Oct 18;384(9952):1446-54. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60893-X.
• Background Myles PS, Leslie K, Chan MT, Forbes A, Paech MJ, Peyton P, Silbert BS, Pascoe E; ENIGMA Trial Group. Avoidance of nitrous oxide for patients undergoing major surgery: a randomized controlled trial. Anesthesiology. 2007 Aug;107(2):221-31. doi: 10.1097/01.anes.0000270723.30772.da.
• Background Nagele P, Brown F, Francis A, Scott MG, Gage BF, Miller JP; VINO Study Team. Influence of nitrous oxide anesthesia, B-vitamins, and MTHFR gene polymorphisms on perioperative cardiac events: the vitamins in nitrous oxide (VINO) randomized trial. Anesthesiology. 2013 Jul;119(1):19-28. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0b013e31829761e3.
• Background Snaith RP. Present use of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale: observation on method of assessment in research of depressive disorders. Br J Psychiatry. 1996 May;168(5):594-7. doi: 10.1192/bjp.168.5.594.
• Background Kyle PR, Lemming OM, Timmerby N, Sondergaard S, Andreasson K, Bech P. The Validity of the Different Versions of the Hamilton Depression Scale in Separating Remission Rates of Placebo and Antidepressants in Clinical Trials of Major Depression. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2016 Oct;36(5):453-6. doi: 10.1097/JCP.0000000000000557.
• Background Furukawa TA, Akechi T, Azuma H, Okuyama T, Higuchi T. Evidence-based guidelines for interpretation of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2007 Oct;27(5):531-4. doi: 10.1097/JCP.0b013e31814f30b1. No abstract available.
• Background Ueno F, Nakajima S, Suzuki T, Abe T, Sato Y, Mimura M, Uchida H. Whether to increase or maintain dosage of mirtazapine in early nonimprovers with depression. J Clin Psychiatry. 2015 Apr;76(4):434-9. doi: 10.4088/JCP.14m09201.
• Background Levkovitz Y, Isserles M, Padberg F, Lisanby SH, Bystritsky A, Xia G, Tendler A, Daskalakis ZJ, Winston JL, Dannon P, Hafez HM, Reti IM, Morales OG, Schlaepfer TE, Hollander E, Berman JA, Husain MM, Sofer U, Stein A, Adler S, Deutsch L, Deutsch F, Roth Y, George MS, Zangen A. Efficacy and safety of deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for major depression: a prospective multicenter randomized controlled trial. World Psychiatry. 2015 Feb;14(1):64-73. doi: 10.1002/wps.20199.
• Background Leucht S, Fennema H, Engel R, Kaspers-Janssen M, Lepping P, Szegedi A. What does the HAMD mean? J Affect Disord. 2013 Jun;148(2-3):243-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2012.12.001. Epub 2013 Jan 26.
• Background Gibbons RD, Weiss DJ, Pilkonis PA, Frank E, Moore T, Kim JB, Kupfer DJ. Development of a computerized adaptive test for depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2012 Nov;69(11):1104-12. doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2012.14.
• Background Gibbons RD, Kupfer D, Frank E, Moore T, Beiser DG, Boudreaux ED. Development of a Computerized Adaptive Test Suicide Scale-The CAT-SS. J Clin Psychiatry. 2017 Nov/Dec;78(9):1376-1382. doi: 10.4088/JCP.16m10922.
• Background Nagele P, Duma A, Kopec M, Gebara MA, Parsoei A, Walker M, Janski A, Panagopoulos VN, Cristancho P, Miller JP, Zorumski CF, Conway CR. Nitrous Oxide for Treatment-Resistant Major Depression: A Proof-of-Concept Trial. Biol Psychiatry. 2015 Jul 1;78(1):10-18. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.11.016. Epub 2014 Dec 9.
• Background Djulbegovic B, Hozo I, Ioannidis JP. Improving the drug development process: more not less randomized trials. JAMA. 2014 Jan 22-29;311(4):355-6. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.283742. No abstract available.

Drugs

Indications