Clinical trial NCT01441505: A Study of Ketamine as an Antidepressant
Official title: A Study of Ketamine as an Antidepressant
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: PHASE2
Conditions: Major Depressive Episode
Lead sponsor: The University of New South Wales
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Wesley Mission
First posted: 2011-09-27
Enrollment: 42
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Recently, interest has emerged in the use of ketamine as an antidepressant. Recent placebo-controlled clinical trials administering a single dose and an open label trial giving repeated doses shown that ketamine is markedly superior to placebo at reducing depression, including in treatment-resistant patients, and that its antidepressant effects have a very rapid onset.

This clinical study consists of two phases. In Phase I, participants who satisfy inclusion criteria will receive ketamine at variable doses (0.1mg/kg-0.5mg/kg) or a placebo (saline, or 0.01mg/kg midazolam) once a week over up to 6 weeks. If participants qualify for Phase II, they will receive repeated sessions of ketamine at variable doses over three weeks. During both phases, mood, psychiatric, and neuropsychological outcomes will be measured.

Detailed description: This clinical study consists of two phases. In Phase I, participants will receive variable doses of intravenous, intramuscular, or subcutaneous ketamine (0.1-0.5mg/kg) or placebo (saline, or 0.01mg/kg midazolam) weekly for up to 6 consecutive weeks. Prior to receiving ketamine/placebo, participants' mood and psychiatric symptoms will be assessed. Once they have received their treatment, mood, psychiatric side effects, ketamine blood levels, heart rate, blood pressure and biomarkers will be assessed. Mood and cognitive performance be assessed again after 4 hours. Finally, mood will also be assessed the next day.

Some participants may be eligible to continue to Phase II. In this phase, participants will receive doses of ketamine approximately weekly for up to 6 months. During this phase, participants' mood, psychiatric, biomarkers and cognitive outcomes will be assessed.

The purpose of the trial is to investigate the antidepressant and safety effects of using ketamine as a treatment in depression.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Satisfy DSM-IV-TR criteria for Major Depressive Episode
* 18 years or over
* Able to give informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, rapid cycling bipolar disorder, or current psychotic symptoms
* Known sensitivity or contraindication to ketamine
* Recent drug abuse
* Pregnant

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change from baseline on depression rating scales
timeFrame: Before, 4 hours after, and 24 hours after ketamine session
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Psychiatric side effects (BPRS, CADSS) and memory tests
timeFrame: Cognitive battery done before and after 3 weeks; side effects measured immediately before and 4 hours after each ketamine session in both phases.
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Kogarah
country: Australia
facility: Wesley Hospital
state: New South Wales
Study officials:
affiliation: University of New South Wales
name: Colleen K Loo, MB BS FRANZCP MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: aan het Rot M, Collins KA, Murrough JW, Perez AM, Reich DL, Charney DS, Mathew SJ. Safety and efficacy of repeated-dose intravenous ketamine for treatment-resistant depression. Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Jan 15;67(2):139-45. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.08.038.
citation: 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.
citation: Diazgranados N, Ibrahim L, Brutsche NE, Newberg A, Kronstein P, Khalife S, Kammerer WA, Quezado Z, Luckenbaugh DA, Salvadore G, Machado-Vieira R, Manji HK, Zarate CA Jr. A randomized add-on trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist in treatment-resistant bipolar depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010 Aug;67(8):793-802. doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.90.
citation: Larkin GL, Beautrais AL. A preliminary naturalistic study of low-dose ketamine for depression and suicide ideation in the emergency department. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2011 Sep;14(8):1127-31. doi: 10.1017/S1461145711000629. Epub 2011 May 5.
citation: 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.
citation: George D, Galvez V, Martin D, Kumar D, Leyden J, Hadzi-Pavlovic D, Harper S, Brodaty H, Glue P, Taylor R, Mitchell PB, Loo CK. Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Titrated Subcutaneous Ketamine in Older Patients with Treatment-Resistant Depression. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2017 Nov;25(11):1199-1209. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2017.06.007. Epub 2017 Jun 13.
citation: Loo CK, Galvez V, O'Keefe E, Mitchell PB, Hadzi-Pavlovic D, Leyden J, Harper S, Somogyi AA, Lai R, Weickert CS, Glue P. Placebo-controlled pilot trial testing dose titration and intravenous, intramuscular and subcutaneous routes for ketamine in depression. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2016 Jul;134(1):48-56. doi: 10.1111/acps.12572. Epub 2016 Mar 30.