Intravenous ketamine therapy in a patient with a treatment-resistant major depression
Michael Liebrenz, Alain Borgeat, R Leisinger
Swiss Medical Weekly April 21, 2007 DOI: 10.4414/smw.2007.11852 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Open label trial Open-label Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | 55-year-old male with treatment-resistant major depression and co-occurring alcohol and benzodiazepine dependence |
| Intervention | Ketamine hydrochloride |
| Dose | 0.5 mg/kg |
| Duration | 50-minute infusion, assessed at 1 hour, 1 day, 2 days, and 7 days post-infusion |
| Topics | Depression Esketamine Ketamine |
| Citations | 75 |
| Key findings | A single intravenous ketamine infusion produced rapid and sustained antidepressant effects in a patient with treatment-resistant depression and co-occurring substance use disorders. |
Abstract
Background: Recently, reports from North America have indicated that the intravenous infusion of ketamine hydrochloride (an N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist) results in a sudden and robust improvement of depression symptoms.
Objective: To corroborate antidepressant effectiveness of IV ketamine in a patient with a co-occurring substance use disorder for the first time in a European clinical setting.
Design: Open label trial
Methods: A 55-year-old male subject with a treatment-resistant major depression and a co-occurring alcohol and benzodiazepine dependence received an intravenous infusion of 0.5 mg/kg ketamine over a period of 50 minutes. Effects were assessed by means of a clinical interview, the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating scale (HDRS), and the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at baseline, 1 hour, 1 day, 2 days, and 7 days after intervention.
Results: Following the administration of ketamine the subject experienced a significant improvement of his symptoms peaking on the 2nd day post infusion (HDRS from 36 to 16; -56.6%, BDI from 26 to 9; -65.4%). The subject first reported improvements 25 min. into the infusion and continued to describe positive effects throughout the subsequent 7 days.
Conclusion: Ketamine not only seems to have strong antidepressant effects but also to act very swiftly. These actions were unaffected by an alcohol or benzodiazpine dependence.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on ketamine for depression, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rapid Resolution of Suicidal Ideation After a Single Infusion of anN-Methyl-D-Aspartate Antagonist in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Major Depressive Disorder Subjects with DSM-IV-diagnosed treatment-resistant major depressive disorder | 2010 | Open-label trial | n = 33 |
| Esketamine Nasal Spray Plus Oral Antidepressant in Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression Adults (≥ 18 years) with treatment-resistant depression | 2020 | Phase 3, open-label, multicenter, long-term study | n = 802 |
| Intravenous arketamine for treatment-resistant depression: open-label pilot study Humans with treatment-resistant depression | 2020 | Open-label pilot trial | n = 7 |
| A Phase 2 Open Label Study of Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of SLS-002 (Intranasal Racemic Ketamine) in Adults with MDD at Imminent Risk of Suicide. Hospitalized patients with Major Depressive Disorder and acute suicidal ideation and... | 2024 | Open label study | n = 17 |
| Ketamine Safety and Tolerability in Clinical Trials for Treatment-Resistant Depression Participants with DSM-IV-defined major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant... | 2014 | Pooled analysis of three clinical trials | n = 97 |